Palestine and the EastMed Gas Forum (EMGF)

-        European Commission President "Ursula von der Leyen. Ursula Von Der Leyen." announced at a joint press conference in Ramallah, upon reception by Prime Minister Dr. Mohammad Shtayyeh yesterday, Monday, the resumption of European Union assistance to the Palestinians for the year 2021, after a two-year suspension. She pointed out that the European countries are the largest donor to the Palestinian people, at a rate of 600 million euros annually ..!

-        She said at the joint press conference in Ramallah that the purpose of her visit to the region is to discuss several files with the Palestinian side, the foremost of which is the energy file.. in light of the global energy crisis.. after the repercussions of the war in Ukraine. The visit of the President of the European Commission to the region appears to come in the context of a frantic search for alternative sources to Russian energy, on which Europe mainly depends.. Later reports indicated the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the European Union, Israel and Egypt under the umbrella of the "EastMed Gaz Forum", whose main aim is to export gas to Europe from Israel via Egypt... with the support of the United States of America.!

·       Gas and oil reserves in the East Mediterranean region

-        The United States Geological Survey estimated the volume of in-place reserves in the East Mediterranean at about "122 trillion cubic feet of gas .... and about 107 billion barrels of oil", which is an enormous wealth in a region full of complex political disputes, "which makes this wealth a source of tension on more than one level and among several parties".. as happened on the issue of energy in the East Mediterranean.... in a polarization between two main axes, namely Egypt and Turkey, each of which sees itself as qualified to be a transit point and hub to transport gas from its sources in the Middle East to the continent of Europe..!

-        It is worth noting that the wealth of the East Mediterranean countries was the subject of dispute in the recent past between Turkey and Greece, between Turkey and Egypt, and between Israel and Lebanon, which is now underway to demarcate the borders between Lebanon and Israel under American auspices... noting that the Americans have seized control of oil and gas wells in several areas of Syria.. which are occupied and protected by American military forces and some Syrian armed groups cooperating with the Americans.

-        The discovery of new offshore natural gas reserves in the East Mediterranean may lead to armed conflicts between the countries of the region. Although these discoveries are considered a rare opportunity to obtain funds that could contribute to the economic and human development of Middle East inhabitants, they may cause conflicts with unpredictable outcomes, especially among Lebanon, Syria and Israel. !

·       Gas and oil reserves in the State of Palestine (pre-1967 borders)

-        It is worth noting that the State of Palestine is a founding member of the "EastMed Gaz Forum" which was established in January 2019 and transformed into the "East Mediterranean Gas" organization in 2020. The Palestinian government ratified its accession to the forum on 29-6-2020, but it was absent from participation in the signing ceremony launching it as a regional organization comprising 6 Mediterranean littoral states and Jordan.

-        The organization’s membership includes Egypt, Greece, Israel, Cyprus, Italy, Jordan and Palestine.. and it includes permanent observer members from the European Union and the United States, and the World Bank Group. The forum’s main headquarters is located in Cairo.

-        The forum’s statement stipulates that the constituted organization will fully respect the rights of member states in their natural resources, in accordance with international law. (This is what the Palestinians hold on to as a pretext for joining the forum), and the "EastMed Gaz Forum" seeks to achieve a number of objectives including:

-        Working to establish a regional gas market that serves the interests of members by securing supply and demand, offering competitive prices, improving commercial relations, and enhancing cooperation by creating an organized systematic dialogue, and formulating common regional policies on natural gas, including regional gas policies.

-        Supporting member states that have gas reserves and current producers in the region in their efforts to benefit from their current and future reserves by strengthening cooperation among them, and with consumption and transit parties in the region.

-        Helping consumer states secure their needs, and enabling their participation with transit states in setting gas policies in the region, which opens the way to establishing a sustainable partnership among the active parties... in all stages of the gas industry. (This is what the recent European Union delegation to the region is trying to raise).!

-        Since the first meeting, the founding members emphasized the possibility of admitting new members from any of the East Mediterranean states that are producers or consumers of gas, or from transit states, who share the forum’s visions and objectives...!

·       The State of Palestine within its pre-1967 borders owns coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea along the Gaza shores, and the Palestinian exclusive economic zone in the Mediterranean includes one of the first gas fields discovered in the Mediterranean called "Gaza–Marine".

-        It is worth noting that the first field discovered in the East Mediterranean was in Palestine in 1999, (noting that the first gas discovery on the Mediterranean coast was on the northern Egyptian coast in the late 1980s).... The field was developed in 2000 by the British gas company (British Gas), which exited and handed the field to Royal Dutch Shell before Shell itself left in 2018. The circumstances of these companies’ departures from this field were not known precisely.. leaving the file ambiguous.....! The Palestinian Authority granted BG (British Gas) a concession in November 1999 for a period of 25 years in all Palestinian waters, and then a partnership was established led by BG with the Palestine Investment Fund and the Consolidated Contractors Company (C.C.C) for exploration and survey and a pipeline was laid to Gaza. It was expected to meet the needs of the Gaza power plant for fuel, instead of importing it from Israel, as is currently the case. But Israel refused to develop the field,

-        "Gaza Marine" was discovered 30 km off Gaza at a depth of 600 meters under the sea surface, with reserves estimated at 1.4 trillion cubic feet, and the Palestinian Authority agreed to develop the field in 2002, with production expected to begin within 4 years.. However, Israel refused to develop the field, insisting that supplies reach the city of Ashkelon first to meet its gas needs, and only then allow gas to flow to Gaza.. It also conditioned the purchase of gas at prices lower than global averages, which the consortium responsible for developing the field rejected.!

-        The first gas discovery in Israel was in January 2009, the "Tamar field" which is 80 km west of the Haifa coast at a depth of 1700 meters under the sea surface, and its reserves are estimated at about 8.4 trillion cubic feet...

-        In February 2021, the Palestine Investment Fund announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding to develop the "Gaza–Marine" field and the necessary infrastructure with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS)... It was reported in the press at the time that the Palestinians had received positive signals from the Israeli side to develop the field.. However, Dr. Mohammad Mustafa, Chairman of the Board of the Palestine Investment Fund and representative and head of the Palestinian team in a number of forum meetings, rejected the principle of entering into development of the Palestinian field with the Israeli side..!

-        The membership of the State of Palestine in the forum at that time and still has aroused wide controversy, as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (Movement BDS) opposed its presence and its general coordinator called for Palestine’s withdrawal from the organization, because from its point of view Palestine’s membership provides a legal cover for Israel to steal Palestinian natural resources. The movement’s representative added that this deprives the Palestinians of a number of large discovered and undiscovered gas fields, among them "Rubi", for which gas is expected to reach 2.8 trillion cubic feet, and the "Samson" field expected at 2.3 trillion cubic feet.. both of which lie in the Palestinian exclusive zone in the Mediterranean.

-        Mr. Abbas Zaki, a member of the Central Committee of Fatah, in turn called for immediate withdrawal from the East Mediterranean Gas organization to deny Israel the opportunity to become a regional energy hub..., and some say that Turkey sees the forum as a conspiracy against it, while others consider the presence of Palestinians in the mentioned forum as favoritism toward Egypt and alignment with it in the conflict with Turkey over the East Mediterranean gas wealth.... !

-        However, many Palestinian officials responded that membership consolidates the natural rights of the Palestinian people in their resources, according to the rules of international law.. and it is an important and additional step in affirming the national and sovereign rights of the State of Palestine.. as stated in the Forum’s founding document. Many realist policy experts also welcomed Palestine’s entry into this forum, but they called on the Palestinian side to deepen its presence.. and its defense of the rights of its people, in an effective manner.. and that the membership should not be merely formal!

-        The “Coalition for integrity and accountability (AMAN) 2021 Annual Report No. 14 on the State of Integrity and Combating Corruption Ramallah Palestine" referred to the “management of the gas file” by noting that the Palestinian Council of Ministers did not publish the texts of the charter, and did not share the Palestinian bodies and parties of relevance, especially civil society organizations, with the information related to the East Mediterranean gas file and Palestine’s membership..!

-        No details were provided regarding the clauses of the memorandum of understanding signed in 2021 between the parties partnering in the Gaza gas field, currently represented by Investment Fund the Contractors Union Company CCC together with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company “EGAS”, to develop the Gaza gas field and the necessary infrastructure, in addition to how the mechanism for developing the gas field, the timeframes for implementing the project, and the method of managing the “gas” file as a natural resource owned by the Palestinian people, would be handled without the participation of citizens’ representatives in public policies related to the exploitation of natural resources.

-        The Council of Ministers decided in its session held on 6/9/2021 to establish a gas company in order to manage gas facilities in Palestine, and to enter into contracts to purchase gas from different sources. The matter increases the opacity of the procedures and creates opportunities to provide a nurturing environment for corruption.

-        Bennett, the Prime Minister of Israel, recently pointed out that President Biden’s expected visit to Israel on July 14 will reveal steps aimed at enhancing Israel’s integration in the Middle East and strengthening the prosperity of the entire region..!

-        In this regard, we hope that Palestine’s membership will not be formal, and that its role in the forum will be active... and that gas will be extracted from the existing fields after their development.. noting that after Israel became a gas-exporting state to the European Union, it secured for itself a leading position in rescuing Europe from its energy crisis caused by the war.. the American ban on importing Russian gas ... and Israel has become the primary voice in the forum.. which will see new members attending from gas consumers and producers, Arabs and others.... Israel will have an avid desire to extract gas from its neighbors’ waters.. which is happening with Lebanon... regardless of the internationally designated exclusive economic zones and territorial waters belonging to others, and Israel may quietly extract Palestinian gas in the territories of 1967... without paying any attention to the rights holders... despite Palestine’s membership in the forum,.. or the United States may appease the Palestinians, and resume aid to them fully or partially... for Israel does not have producing wells sufficient to export large quantities to Europe.. it will have to arrange quantities of gas from wells surrounding Israel. Agreements signed between it and Jordan and Egypt will also be used to secure the quantities of gas required by the European Union, from gas imported under the umbrella of these agreements..The result is either that Israel, supported by America, will continue drilling in Lebanon’s territorial waters.. especially since the border demarcation talks are American-sponsored... and Lebanon is weak, whether economically — it is on the verge of bankruptcy — or politically internally, or by escalating tensions and carrying out military actions.....! As for the Palestinian situation, it is not in a better condition, and the Palestinians are waiting for a two-state solution.. or for a movement in the political horizon... and their financial situation is difficult, and the European Union may move.. after two years of withholding grants from the Palestinians... and we hope that the resumption of funding from the Europeans will not be conditional, especially after a memorandum of understanding was concluded regarding the export of gas from Israel under the umbrella of the EastMed Gaz Forum... via Egypt to the European Union... It is worth reminding... that gas even in the territories of Palestine in 1948 is a wealth belonging to the Palestinian refugees in the diaspora.. who are waiting for return.. under the umbrella of final status negotiations...

·       May God protect Palestine and its people at home and abroad.