The military invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israeli Forces bears a direct relation to the control and ownership of strategic offshore gas reserves.
This is a war of conquest. Discovered in 2000, there are extensive gas reserves off the Gaza coastline.
British Gas (BG Group) and its partner, the Athens based Consolidated Contractors International Company (CCC) owned by Lebanon's Sabbagh and Koury families, were granted oil and gas exploration rights in a 25 year agreement signed in November 1999 with the Palestinian Authority.
The rights to the offshore gas field are respectively British Gas (60 percent); Consolidated Contractors (CCC) (30 percent); and the Investment Fund of the Palestinian Authority (10 percent). (Haaretz, October 21, 2007).
The PA-BG-CCC agreement includes field development and the construction of a gas pipeline.(Middle East Economic Digest, Jan 5, 2001).
The BG licence covers the entire Gazan offshore marine area, which is contiguous to several Israeli offshore gas facilities. (See Map below). It should be noted that 60 percent of the gas reserves along the Gaza-Israel coastline belong to Palestine.
The BG Group drilled two wells in 2000: Gaza Marine-1 and Gaza Marine-2. Reserves are estimated by British Gas to be of the order of 1.4 trillion cubic feet, valued at approximately 4 billion dollars. These are the figures made public by British Gas. The size of Palestine's gas reserves could be much larger.
Who Owns the Gas Fields
The issue of sovereignty over Gaza's gas fields is crucial. From a legal standpoint, the gas reserves belong to Palestine.
The death of Yasser Arafat, the election of the Hamas government and the ruin of the Palestinian Authority have enabled Israel to establish de facto control over Gaza's offshore gas reserves.
British Gas (BG Group) has been dealing with the Tel Aviv government. In turn, the Hamas government has been bypassed in regards to exploration and development rights over the gas fields.
The election of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2001 was a major turning point. Palestine's sovereignty over the offshore gas fields was challenged in the Israeli Supreme Court. Sharon stated unequivocally that "Israel would never buy gas from Palestine" intimating that Gaza's offshore gas reserves belong to Israel.
In 2003, Ariel Sharon, vetoed an initial deal, which would allow British Gas to supply Israel with natural gas from Gaza's offshore wells. (The Independent, August 19, 2003)
The election victory of Hamas in 2006 was conducive to the demise of the Palestinian Authority, which became confined to the West Bank, under the proxy regime of Mahmoud Abbas.
In 2006, British Gas "was close to signing a deal to pump the gas to Egypt." (Times, May, 23, 2007). According to reports, British Prime Minister Tony Blair intervened on behalf of Israel with a view to shunting the agreement with Egypt.
The following year, in May 2007, the Israeli Cabinet approved a proposal by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "to buy gas from the Palestinian Authority." The proposed contract was for $4 billion, with profits of the order of $2 billion of which one billion was to go the Palestinians.
Tel Aviv, however, had no intention on sharing the revenues with Palestine. An Israeli team of negotiators was set up by the Israeli Cabinet to thrash out a deal with the BG Group, bypassing both the Hamas government and the Palestinian Authority:
"Israeli defence authorities want the Palestinians to be paid in goods and services and insist that no money go to the Hamas-controlled Government." (Ibid, emphasis added)
The objective was essentially to nullify the contract signed in 1999 between the BG Group and the Palestinian Authority under Yasser Arafat.
Under the proposed 2007 agreement with BG, Palestinian gas from Gaza's offshore wells was to be channeled by an undersea pipeline to the Israeli seaport of Ashkelon, thereby transferring control over the sale of the natural gas to Israel.
The deal fell through. The negotiations were suspended:
"Mossad Chief Meir Dagan opposed the transaction on security grounds, that the proceeds would fund terror". (Member of Knesset Gilad Erdan, Address to the Knesset on "The Intention of Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Purchase Gas from the Palestinians When Payment Will Serve Hamas," March 1, 2006, quoted in Lt. Gen. (ret.) Moshe Yaalon, Does the Prospective Purchase of British Gas from Gaza's Coastal Waters Threaten Israel's National Security? Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, October 2007)
Israel's intent was to foreclose the possibility that royalties be paid to the Palestinians. In December 2007, The BG Group withdrew from the negotiations with Israel and in January 2008 they closed their office in Israel.
More info here-
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11680
and here-
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11521
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see God given the worlds mineral wealth to the lands he favours, and places like israhell and american government want to rob these people just exactly like an armed robber would going into a bank. what is the difference??
covertgreen 1 year ago
fucking isralie jewish scum. they even kill their own people in staged terrorist acts just to have excuses to not give the Palestinians their land. after i found out about all of the real truth about the palestinians i support their struggle. the word needs to get out about these isralie scum. one word "TRUTH"
covertgreen 1 year ago
its all about money and power thous with this thay blackmail and control the world?
and the root of this is to control and ateal world resources
KingKong1ooo 1 year ago
@TurkishMujahid
Yes, America "just" discovered the Trillions in mineral wealth in Afghanistan.
hehehhehehehhehehehhehehehehehheheheehhehehehehhehehehhe
EMPIREofPUPPETS 1 year ago
it has also been "discovered " by the usa military that afghanistan is setting on a mineral goldmine with an estimate of 1000 billion dollars worth of minerals , and billions and billions of dollars worth of Gold,Silver&metal(wich are also minerals but these numbers where given seperatly by usa military so i give them seperatly to) it isnt hard to realize then why america has such an interest in afghanistan and Iraq where they have also discovered a GOLDMINE in the river euphrate...
TurkishMujahid 1 year ago
No suprise there at all. They are turning our whole world into one giant money making scam for the elite......Palestine isn't allowed club elite membership.
beltanebabe55 1 year ago
ShitraHELL!
usergently 1 year ago
Well isn't this a surprise? NOT
eyeswideopennimrod 1 year ago
Is the federal government even in control of the United States or is it simply a subdivision of the oil industry, fighting wars on its behalf, subsidizing highways and starving mass transit, and suppressing alternate technologies?
paulkielsmithdotcom 1 year ago
only SUPREMACISTS support israhell
karimgenerous 1 year ago