Israel Faces Claims of Denying Palestinians Access to Natural Resources in Gaza
As the Gaza war hits 10 months, debates arise over Israel's motives, focusing on Gaza's natural gas. Critics claim economic goals; experts say reserves are modest and not a war motive
The war in Gaza has had far-reaching consequences on Palestinians and Israelis. In recent weeks, as the war continues, there have been increasing claims that Israel has other motives behind its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The war began after a surprise attack was carried out against Israeli communities in the south of the country that borders Gaza. Hamas, who perpetrated the attack, stunned Israel by storming the border with thousands of terrorists, killing approximately 1,200 Israelis, injuring thousands of others, and abduction of approximately 250 people, 120 of whom still remain in captivity, their fate unknown. In response, Israel launched a massive offensive against Hamas, stating its goal was to topple the organization and remove it from power, in addition to releasing the hostages. According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, at least 38000 Palestinians have been killed as a result of the Israeli military offensive and almost 90,000 injured. According to the United Nations (UN), approximately 1.9 Palestinians have been displaced due to the fighting.
Throughout the war, Israel has faced increasing criticism and accusations, including an International Court of Justice (ICJ) case brought forward by South Africa, accusing the Jewish state of genocide and war crimes. Israel has denied the claims. Finding itself increasingly isolated in the international arena, Israel is also facing accusations that it is using the war as another means to oppress Palestinians economically and exploit natural gas resources that exist in the Mediterranean, off the shores of the Gaza Strip. The area, named Gaza Marine, is believed to be abundant with oil and natural gas reservoirs, at the very least with an amount that could benefit the Palestinian people. The Gaza Strip is considered to be one of the most poverty-stricken areas in the world.
This is Palestinian weaponization of natural resources in order to isolate Israel. The Palestinian side has used these claims as a form of political warfare.
“This is Palestinian weaponization of natural resources in order to isolate Israel,” said Dr. Dan Diker, President of the Jerusalem Center for Foreign Affairs. “The Palestinian side has used these claims as a form of political warfare.”
The Oslo Accords, signed by Israel and the Palestinians in 1993, saw the birth of the Palestinian Authority (PA). The subsequent Paris Agreements, which addressed the economic aspect of the relationship, stipulated that any development of natural resources must be done with Israeli approval.
A report by the United Nations Trade and Development Organization (UNCTAD) issued in 2019 accused Israel of “preventing the Palestinians from exploiting their own oil and natural gas reserves…without due regard for international law.”
In 1999, then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak conceded Palestinian ownership of the gas field off the shores of Gaza, allowing the PA to explore the area.
The facts completely blow up in the face of all of these absurd claims against Israel. Israel has done less than a stellar job in exposing these lies and deception.
“The facts completely blow up in the face of all of these absurd claims against Israel,” Diker told The Media Line. “Israel has done less than a stellar job in exposing these lies and deception.”
The natural gas field was discovered by British Gas in 2000, five years before Israel withdrew its forces and settlements from the area. Maritime borders have been a cause of conflict in the Mediterranean in the past. Just recently, Israel and Lebanon signed an agreement demarcating the maritime border and the division of rights between the two nations in the areas of the Mediterranean Sea along both coasts used for gas extraction. The agreement between the two rivaling countries has sparked hope that similar disputes could also be solved diplomatically despite years of animosity.
However, in the case of the natural resources off the coast in Gaza, there appears to be no question of who has the right to both explore and exploit them.
“Although not formally, Israel has recognized Palestinian economic and territorial waters, and while there is no agreement on the matter because there is no wider agreement between Israelis and Palestinians … there is no question that the Gaza Marine area is a Palestinian field recognized by several Israeli governments,” said Michael Harari, a former senior Israeli diplomat and policy fellow at Mitvim, the Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies.
Egypt, which also borders Gaza, also played a role in delineation negotiations regarding the waters and economic rights.
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Just weeks before the war broke out, the Israeli government approved the development of the Gaza Marine. It had blocked the development of the area for almost two decades before that to avoid revenue from the natural gas reserves from falling into the hands of Hamas, which had violently taken over the Gaza Strip from the PA in 2007, just two years after Israel withdrew from the territory in 2005.
For years, the Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu adopted an approach that believed that the key to stability in the area was to promote economic stability and welfare in the Gaza Strip. So long as the stakes were high and Hamas maintained power, the terrorist organization would be motivated to maintain quiet on the border. As Hamas terrorists stormed the border, that theory was discarded by many Israelis.
According to Dimitri Diliani, the spokesperson for the Palestinian Fatah Reformist Democratic Faction, Israel’s handling of the war, and specifically what he believes is its choice to elongate it, is an extension of a largely Israeli policy.
The issue of the natural resources has resurfaced as a reason to prolong the genocide on top of Netanyahu’s personal interest and the interests of the military-industrial complex that is benefiting from the prolonged war. Israel established new facts on the ground in order to control the area, and this has coincided with negotiations and agreements being discussed with the PA.
“The issue of the natural resources has resurfaced as a reason to prolong the genocide on top of Netanyahu’s personal interest and the interests of the military-industrial complex that is benefiting from the prolonged war,” Diliani told The Media Line. “Israel established new facts on the ground in order to control the area, and this has coincided with negotiations and agreements being discussed with the PA.”
Diliani is referring to Israel’ stringent blockade on the Gaza Strip imposed on the territory after Hamas took over. As part of it, the Israeli navy also imposed a strict naval blockade. This included the limitation on Palestinian fishing.
“Israel has made sure it has control,” Diliani continued. “Now, Israel is creating buffer zones (within Gaza) in order to have access and more solid control and easy access to natural gas fields. This is more important to them than any illegitimate security claims they have anyway.”
According to Dr. Hilly Moodrick-Even Khen, an expert in international law and chair of Ariel University Center for the Research and Study of Genocide, since its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and specifically from the area bordering Egypt, Israel has not had effective control of the territory since 2005.
“This is the main test for establishing occupation according to the international law of occupation,” Moodrick-Even Khen told The Media Line. “These laws stipulate that the occupier is obligated to allow the occupied population to use its natural resources. The question now is whether Gaza is fully occupied because Hamas still has effective control of at least part of the territory, absolving Israel from that obligation.”
On Friday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories, including Gaza, is illegal, calling it to stop. The ruling also referred to the use of natural resources. Despite Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, the majority of the international community still considers it occupied.
For several years, the PA has engaged in legal warfare against Israel in the international arena.
“This is part of their asymmetrical warfare strategy,” said Diker. “The PA has done an inversion of legitimacy in which Israel has been re-cast as a terror organization, using the resources and the assets of the ICJ and ICC (International Criminal Court).”
The claim that Israel has asserted control over Gaza’s maritime resources has existed since the blockade was imposed after Hamas took power (and was)…part of a narrative that Israeli aggression against Lebanon and Gaza were part of a master plan by world imperialism to monopolize natural resources…in the Middle East, which included the Gaza Marine field. The problem with these claims is that while they were possible, if debatable, at the time, they fundamentally misjudged Israeli strategic intentions.
“The claim that Israel has asserted control over Gaza’s maritime resources has existed since the blockade was imposed after Hamas took power (and was)…part of a narrative that Israeli aggression against Lebanon and Gaza were part of a master plan by world imperialism to monopolize natural resources…in the Middle East, which included the Gaza Marine field,” said Lee Wilcox, a writer from the American political newsletter “Twilight of Greed” and author of “The Gaza Gas Question Part One: Energy.”
“The problem with these claims is that while they were possible, if debatable, at the time, they fundamentally misjudged Israeli strategic intentions. As we now know, the collapse of the negotiations to process and sell the natural gas of Gaza Marine didn’t encourage Israel to take the gas by force, but to diversify their energy mix.”
According to Wilcox, the amount of natural gas found in Gaza is much more modest than is alluded to in the UNCTAD report. Delving into the report shows a range of estimations regarding how much natural gas does exist off the coast of Gaza. However, the recent discourse on the matter, which is especially prevalent on social media networks such as TikTok, does not allow for such detailed or nuanced debate.
“Much of this nonsense could have been avoided if most of the people who felt so comfortable using the report’s figures had bothered to read it,” Wilcox added, slamming the report for being ‘holistically bad.’
“There is no understanding this myth without understanding the current war. There have always been a few people believing the sorts of claims that Israel is stealing Palestine’s energy resources, but these claims were sustained basically by a marginal group of conspiracy theorists,” Wilcox told The Media Line. “The sheer virality of social media certainly plays a role, as does the way in which platforms like Twitter and TikTok have structured modern political discourse. But to blame social media is too simplistic. Without the sheer genocidal atrocity that the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) has inflicted on Gaza, there would be nothing for social media to give a voice to.”
“These are all conspiracy theories by people who seek an ironclad explanation to everything,” said Harari, a former Israeli diplomat. “There is no rational interest of the current government in Israel to create such a mess about the gas when its exploitation by the Palestinians serves its own interests.”
If Israel is successful in toppling Hamas and the natural gas reserves are tapped into by its replacement, this would be beneficial to both the Palestinians and the Israelis, as per Harari.
Israel discovered its own natural gas reserves in 2009. The discovery was a game-changer for the country, which was poor in natural resources until then. According to the Israeli Ministry of Energy, there are enough reserves to allow the export of at least 7 BCM (Billion cubic meters) a year while still retaining enough gas to supply its own needs for the coming decades. Hence, the need for Gaza’s natural gas is non-existent.
For opponents of Israel, this information is irrelevant.
Israel also has enough land and still occupies Palestinian land. This is the expansionary nature of the Zionist project as an imperialist project does not know boundaries.
“Israel also has enough land and still occupies Palestinian land,” said Diliani. “This is the expansionary nature of the Zionist project as an imperialist project does not know boundaries.”
In an ongoing battle of narratives, this is yet another one casting a shadow over the already fraught Israeli-Palestinian relationship.
