"Everyone Is Wrong" - Palestine Kept From Developing It's Huge Gas Reserves

[G.L.R.]

Everyone is wrong about Israel-Palestine – here's how the  pursuit of huge gas reserves and money is fueling the conflict

27 May, 2021

There are trillions of tonnes of recoverable gas lying  underneath the disputed waters off Gaza, Israel, Syria and Lebanon. And  the Israelis want to make sure they alone control and profit from it... if I write about Indonesia's treatment of the population of West Papua...For those of you who don't know, West Papua is home to one of the world's largest gold mines known as the Grasberg Mine... The  real reason behind enacting what can only be described as a military  dictatorship which brutalises the population of West Papua has been to  preserve this literal gold mine... In 2000, UK oil company BG Group discovered an estimated 1.6 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas in the Gaza Marine... Israel's continued desire to control Gaza is due to its aim of making "Palestinian access to the Marine-1 and Marine-1 gas wells impossible", with the added goal of not only "preventing the Palestinians from exploiting their own resources"...

Despite all formal agreements to the contrary, Israel  continues to manage all the natural resources nominally under the  jurisdiction of the PA, from land and water to maritime and hydrocarbon  resources."  Israel barely has enough energy resources  of its own to maintain its current exports. Following the discovery of  the $4 billion worth of natural gas in Gaza in 2000, there were also  later other monumental discoveries of gas in Syria and Lebanon, two known adversaries of the Israeli government.  Earlier  this year, fresh rounds of talks had begun between Israel, the  Palestinian Authority (PA), Qatar and the EU in respect of Israel's goal  of exporting Eastern Mediterranean gas to Europe. While many on  both the left and right, including former US president Donald Trump, are  quick to argue that the only reason the US has ventured into the Middle  East was for oil and natural resources ...

The same military power which was brutalising Palestinians  at the al-Aqsa mosque while simultaneously... But we don't talk about that, because only Israel has the "right to defend itself." Except it's the occupying power, so technically focusing on Israel's "right" to do anything is misstating the issue. Israel doesn't have rights – what it has is a series of obligations under international law. You know, obligations to ensure Palestinian people receive respect for their persons, religious practices, be treated humanely, be protected from violence, be provided with food and medical supplies, facilitate relief supplies, to name a few.

Everyone is wrong about Israel-Palestine – here's how the pursuit of huge gas reserves and money is fuelling the conflict — RT Op-ed
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/525000-israel-palestine-natural-gas