Late in the evening of Sunday June 18, 2023, the Israeli government announced that it is initially positive to begin the exploitation of the Gaza Marine natural gas field, located offshore, about 30 km off the Gaza Strip.

As a precondition, the Israelis want cooperation with Egypt and the Palestinian Authority in order to take the necessary and coordinated actions on security issues.

According to estimates, the Gaza Marine field contains more than 1 trillion cubic feet of gas, enough to meet the needs of the Palestinians for several years and with some prospects for exports.

If such a deal goes ahead, then it would be a major source of revenue for the Palestinian Authority and the struggling economy of the Palestinian society. Also, through the development program of the field, the Palestinian Authority will become part of the energy cooperation schemes across the region.

A spoke-person for Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, said the Palestinian people have the right to develop their energy resources.

It is interesting that the Israeli side realizes that the natural resource of gas is not an end in itself, but is a “blessing” to which everyone should have rightful access. This allows the Israelis to create conditions of stability for the entire region, as happened a few months ago with the hybrid agreement on the exploitation of a field with Lebanon, and the resulting stability leaves them free to invest in energy technologies with multiple surplus value.