RAMALLAH (Dispatches) – The Palestinian leadership has been communicating with Egypt over a gas field off the coast of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye has unveiled.
Ishtaye made the announcement at a weekly cabinet meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, during which he said the gas field is “a national wealth and a Palestinian natural resource,” according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
On Sunday, the Zionist regime gave preliminary approval for the development of the Gaza Marine natural gas field off the coast of the Gaza Strip, following negotiations with the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Egypt.
The Gaza Marine natural gas field is located in the Mediterranean Sea, approximately 36 kilometers offshore of Gaza, a Palestinian enclave subjected to an Israeli and Egyptian blockade.
Ishtaye added that the Palestinian Investment Fund in partnership with an Egyptian developer company have started works concerning the gas field. “There were Israeli obstacles, and now the matter has become available,” he added.
Ishtaye expressed gratitude to Egypt and stressed that “the Gaza gas field is Palestinian, located in the Palestinian territorial waters off the shores of the Gaza Strip, and it is a national wealth.”
“Egypt made efforts to help us work in the field. This effort has political implications for our people, and the work in the field will be based on partnership with the private sector through agreements between Egypt and Palestine,” he said.
Meanwhile, Hazem Qassem, spokesman for the Islamic resistance movement Hamas in Gaza, said, “The gas off the coast of the Gaza Strip is a natural wealth that belongs to all the poor, youth, and future generations of our Palestinian people.”
“We do not need anyone’s permission to dispose of this gas. We will not allow the occupation to use the Gaza gas issue as material for blackmailing positions or a tool to pass security or political deals with some Palestinian parties,” he said.
Qassem added that “the Palestinian people have the full right to benefit from the natural resources and gas located on the coasts of the Gaza Strip.”