from thefreeonline on 12th Jan 2024 by .Al Mayadeen English/ AlMonitor,/ Prof Michel Chossudovsky
Behind Israel’s ‘end game’ for Gaza: Theft of offshore gas reserves …
Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said that “Israel” is facilitating the large-scale displacement of Gaza Strip residents towards Egypt via the border.
A few days ago, Egypt rejected the Israeli policy of forced displacement of the people of Gaza whether within the Strip or across the border into Eygpt’s Sinai, the chairperson of the Egyptian State Information Service, Diaa Rashwan, stated.
However the facts on the ground speak differently.
Firstly Israel has shown its complete contempt for international law, claiming it has priority as “God’s chosen people” and repeatedly showing that nothing it says about the future of Gaza can be taken for truth.
Meanwhile a deal might be done.. Egypt is deeply and hopelessly in debt without much natural resources and a soaring population, while Israel has open access to billions in cash from the US which can go into endless debt. Suspiciously just before the Gaza war began the US cancelled a large part of aid it has given Egypt for many years.
Egypt-Israel “Secret Bilateral Talks”
Since Israel expelled so many Palestinians to the Gaza ‘concentration camp’ huge quantities of Gas have been discovered right next to Gaza in the sea.
In 2021-22, Egypt and Israel were involved in “secret bilateral talks” regarding “the extraction of natural gas off the coast of the Gaza Strip.
“Egypt succeeded in persuading Israel to start extracting natural gas off the coast of the Gaza Strip, after several months of secret bilateral talks.
This development … comes after years of Israeli objections to extract natural gas off the coast of Gaza on [alleged] security grounds, …
British Gas (BG Group) has also been dealing with the Tel Aviv government.
Palestinians participate in a rally at the Gaza City sea port, in which they demand their right to receive gas from maritime fields in the eastern Mediterranean and the lifting of the Israeli blockade, Gaza Strip, Sept. 13 2022. – Mohammed Abed/AFP
What is significant is that the civilian arm of the Hamas Gaza government has been bypassed in regards to exploration and development rights over the gas fields:
The field, which lies about 30 kilometers (19 miles) west of the Gaza coast, was discovered in 2000 by British Gas (currently BG Group) and is estimated to contain more than 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
The official in the Egyptian intelligence service told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “An Egyptian economic and security delegation discussed with the Israeli side for several months the issue of allowing the extraction of natural gas off the coast of Gaza. …Al-Monitor, October 22, 2022
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Egypt and Israel, which had the rubber-stamp of the Palestinian National Authority (PA):
“The Egyptian official explained that Israel required the start of practical measures to extract gas from the Gaza fields at the beginning of 2024, to ensure its own security. (Al-Monitor, October 22, 2022.. Palestine’s forgotten oil and gas resources – Al Jazeera
Expelling the Gazans and reclaiming the strip would give Israel an energy bonanza, and part of the gas could be piped to Egypt. Israel therefore has a direct financial interest in pursuing its holocaust against Gaza, and Egypt has many reasons to accommodate it.
The Israel military blitzkrieg is crowding most of the 2,2 million Gazans towards the Rafah area in the extreme south. Many are now in makeshift tent camps on the border with Egypt after Israel destroyed their homes and murdered tens of thousands.
Israel is also claiming complete control of a strip along the Egyptian border.. a strip within a strip, and could force Egypt to back down, with military, financial and even with nuclear blackmail, pushing the destitute Palestinians into the Sinai desert.
In a press briefing, the official Rashwan of the Egyptian State Information Service reiterated Egypt’s rejection of the Israeli policy of forced displacement of Palestinians within the Gaza Strip. Rashwan also rejected attempts to transfer Palestinians to Sinai or pressure them to move there via hostile practices.
Rashwan outlined the main principles that govern Cairo’s stance regarding the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, as well as the occupation’s plots to forcibly displace Palestinians to Sinai.
However in an article featured in the Los Angeles Times, Lazzarini the Commissioner-General of the UN agency UNRWA accuses “Israel” of preparing Gaza residents expulsion to Egypt and highlighted the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza.
He emphasized the increasing concentration of displaced civilians, who, escaping war, were moving closer to the northern and southern borders.
Lazzarini noted that the United Nations and numerous member states, including verbally the United States, opposed the compelled relocation of Gazans from the Strip. But Israel can claim it to be voluntary as starving families can hardly refuse.
He added, “The developments we are witnessing indicate attempts to transfer Palestinians to Egypt, regardless of whether they reside there or are resettled elsewhere.
“The Commissioner-General of the UN agency asserted that the extensive devastation in the northern Gaza Strip, coupled with the ensuing displacement, marks the initial phase of this unfolding scenario.
Gaza Gas Project – Gaza Oil and Gas
He pointed out that the subsequent stage involves compelling civilians to evacuate the city of Khan Younis, situated in the southern region, destroying their homes and leaving them also destitute and helpless on the Egyptian border.
The Issue of Territorial Waters: Gaza’s Offshore Gas Fields
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