On Sunday, the Palestinian Investment Fund signed an agreement with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) to develop the Gaza Marine field and the necessary infrastructure. The terms of the deal were kept secret.
The source, who preferred not to be named, told Anadolu that the Egyptian side has also received positive signals from Israel to move forward with the Palestinians to develop the field.
This plan is an illusion. Even if they build the pipeline, it will run through Israel, which will shut off supply to Gaza at will and at whim. https://t.co/0VvJZyqGTU
— Tikun Olam (@richards1052) February 25, 2021
Hamas yesterday criticized the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s “monopoly” over Palestinian decisions, spokesman Hazem Qassem said.
Taking to Twitter, Qassem wrote:
“It is a shame that the PA and Fatah officials in Ramallah are selling the delusion to the Palestinian people that they are running a state.”
Adding that the PA has failed to achieve any of the national aspirations of the Palestinian people.
“Rather, it entrenched political and geographical division and is seeking a compromise with the Israeli occupation,” Qassem continued.
WAFA [Sunday]: "The President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas received, at the presidential headquarters in Ramallah, this evening, Sunday,
the Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resourcees Dr. Tariq Al-Mulla + his accompanying delegation.https://t.co/UjJ7nJGLlt— Marian Houk (@Marianhouk) February 22, 2021
Member of Hamas’ Political Bureau Mousa Abu-Marzouk stressed that people of Gaza and Palestinians should know the details of the deal, but PA Minister Hussein Al-Sheikh replied: “Deals are struck between states, not factions.”
The Palestinian Investment Fund owns 27.5 percent of the field. Palestine is a member of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum founded two years ago, along with Israel, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Jordan, and Greek Cyprus.
The Gaza Marine was discovered in the 1990s but Palestinians could not utilize it due to Israeli restrictions.
The field, located 36 kilometers west of the besieged Gaza Strip in the Mediterranean Sea, was developed in 2000 by British Petroleum (BP).
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
