Israel to work with Egypt, Palestine to develop Gaza gas field

Israel to work with Egypt, Palestine to develop Gaza gas field

Israel’s government announced on Sunday that it had granted preliminary approval for the relevant Cabinet ministries to cooperate with Egypt and the Palestinian Authority (PA) to develop the Gaza Marine offshore gas field.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office issued on Sunday a statement affirming it will advance the development of the Marine undersea natural gas field, situated some 36 kilometers (22 miles) off the shores of the Gaza Strip.  

“Implementing the project is subject to coordination between the security services and direct dialogue with Egypt, in coordination with the PA, in order to maintain the security and diplomatic interests of the State of Israel on the matter,” the statement said.

The Marine undersea gas field was discovered in 2000 by British Gas, but was never developed due to Israeli objections on the grounds of political and security reasons. British Gas gave up on its exploitation rights in 2018, handing them back to the PA, which has since been in contact with UK-based Energean. 

Israeli officials also said that the government will block the development of the Marine gas field until an advancement is registered on Hamas returning two Israeli civilians and the bodies of two Israel Defense Forces soldiers it has been holding