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NEW YORK, Mar 12 (IPS) - David L. Phillips is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and a Senior Research Fellow at Oxford University’s Centre for European Studies.Israel’s decision to suspend electricity supplies to Gaza has far-reaching consequences for daily life of Palestinians as well as Gaza’s reconstruction. Managing Gaza’s energy crisis will require the development of alternative supplies, which are found in off-shore natural gas fields that can be developed off the coast of Israel and Gaza in the Eastern Mediterranean (EastMed).
Gaza is undoubtedly facing an energy crisis. The main source of Gaza’s electricity is its power plant in Deir al-Balah and Israeli utility lines that transport electricity and make up nearly two-thirds of Gaza’s power supply. Gaza’s energy supplies were already limited before the war. Supplies have been further affected by damage to energy infrastructure during the Gaza War.
Deir al-Balah was bombed in 2023 by air strikes on Gaza’s energy infrastructure. As a result, Gaza was left with only diesel generators to power its essential services, including hospitals and desalination plants providing potable water. Natural gas is an alternative that can provide abundant power supplies and serve as a tool for peacebuilding.
Reserves of natural gas were found in Israel and Gaza in 2000. Exploration was undertaken within the framework of a licensing agreement between British Gas and the Palestinian National Authority. The discovered gas field, Gaza Marine 1 and 2, though modest in size, was considered one of the possible drivers of the Palestinian economy and a boost to regional energy cooperation.
Though the discovery was cause for hope, Hamas’s election in 2007 put a damper on the prospects for energy cooperation between Israel and Palestine. The opportunity diminished further with the discovery of major gas fields in the Israeli economic waters in 2009 and 2010. With new prospects coming on line, Israel simply has no incentive to allow the development of Marine 1 and 2.
The calculus for economic recovery changed in 2023 when Israel provided approval for the development of the Gaza Marine gas field, with the involvement of the Palestinian Authority and Egypt. It marked a watershed moment in Israel’s willingness to cooperate through production sharing agreements.
Both the goal of conflict resolution and the reconstruction of Gaza can benefit by incorporating Gaza and the broader Palestinian territories into a collaborative framework for energy development in the EastMed.
The United States can play a role by encouraging cooperation through the ‘3+1’ framework, which includes Cyprus, Greece, Israel, and the United States, as well as cooperation for extraction and transport with Egypt.
The East Med Gas Framework constitutes the first international organization to include both Israel and the Palestinian Authority, in which the US is an observer. President Donald Trump’s transactional approach may yield an opportunity for energy development with mutual benefit to both Isael and the Palestinians.
The EastMed presents an opportunity for the US to burnish its credentials as a peacemaker. During his first administration, Trump led the efforts for energy security in the EastMed and Europe. Trump signed the East Med Act, which was co-sponsored by Marco Rubio.
EastMed energy development relies on the interconnectedness of Gaza’s natural gas with European countries via pipelines, electric grids, integration of renewables, and energy efficiency standards. This strategy for interconnectedness would enhance stability and prosperity in Israel and the EastMed by bringing together Israel, Turkey, Egypt, Greece, Cyprus and even Lebanon. The development of natural gas on the continental shelf of Gaza could be a game-changer.
The discovery of what may be the region’s largest natural gas field off the Egyptian coast and the newest discoveries of natural gas off the coast of Cyprus could represent a significant windfall, enhancing self-sufficiency and the region’s strategic energy importance.
Gaza’s energy development plays a twofold role. The volume of the Gaza marine reserves discovered by British Petroleum (BP) in 1999, is estimated at 1 to 1.4 trillion cubic feet (tcf). Combined with Israeli export infrastructure, these reserves can produce more than enough revenue for the reconstruction of Gaza.
Tapping into these reserves will have the added benefit of engaging the Palestinian Authority in a regional collaborative framework. Funds from these assets have the potential to produce revenue for reconstruction and services such as education and health care what would benefit Palestinians.
A Palestinian state with adequate capacity would further serve as a deterrent to radicalization by giving Palestinians self-determination, freedom of movement, statehood, and other rights guaranteed by international humanitarian law.
The end of conflict with Palestine would normalize ties between Israel and the Arab states. This is one of the main objectives of multilateral frameworks in the EastMed, involving Arab states such as Egypt and Jordan.
Regional energy cooperation would advance the process that started with the Camp David Accords in 1978, reinforced by the Abraham Accords in 2020, and the Negev Summit in 2022.
Not only will energy cooperation enhance security for Israel. Another geopolitical benefit includes limiting China’s influence. As an alternative to China’s Maritime Silk Road Initiative, the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) will foster economic integration between Asia, the Persian Gulf and Europe.
IMEC would traverse both Arab states -- Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, as well as Israel. IMEC offers the ancillary benefit of bringing prosperity to Gaza, the Eastern Mediterranean, the broader Middle East, and Europe.
In November 2014, the first trilateral summit between Greece, Cyprus, and Egypt noted: “The unresolved Arab Israeli conflict remains the most serious threat to the region’s long-term security and stability.” When regional economic development benefits stakeholders, the calculus for peacebuilding can create conditions for diplomatic progress.
IPS UN Bureau
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