8/4/14, 10:51 PMGaza Crisis: Israel Invading 'to Secure Palestinian $4bn Gas Reserves'

Page 1 of 9http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/gaza-crisis-israel-invading-secure-palestinian-4bn-gas-reserves-1457356

TUESDAY, 5TH AUGUST, 2014

Society

“Proceeds of a Palestinian gas

sale to Israel would likely not

trickle down to help an

impoverished Palestinian public”

- Moshe Ya'alon

By Mark PiggottJuly 19, 2014 12:55 BST 1,171 227

Gaza Crisis: Israel Invading 'to Secure Palestinian $4bnGas Reserves'

Israel's stated reasons for its latest incursion into Gaza are misleading, according to leading journalistNafeez Ahmed.

Israel is less interested in hitting Hamas than in securing the territory's gas reserves – and keepingPalestinians poor so that revenue from selling the gas does not fall into the "wrong hands".

Israel claims it is trying to prevent Hamas launching rocketsinto Israel and destroy tunnels used by the militant group tomove around. Over 300 Palestinians – mostly civilians – havedied and around 1,500 have been wounded since OperationProtective Edge began.

However, 1.4 trillion cubic feet of gas worth some $4bn liebeneath the Palestinian territories and according to Ahmed,

Israel is terrified that revenue from sales of the gas could be used to fund terrorist attacks.

Israel's defence minister Moshe Ya'alon, former chief of staff of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF),claims Operation Protective Edge is purely aimed at smashing Hamas.

AFP photographer Jaafar Ishtayeh looks at his burning car after it was hit by teargas canisters fired by Israeli soldiers. Reuters

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8/4/14, 10:51 PMGaza Crisis: Israel Invading 'to Secure Palestinian $4bn Gas Reserves'

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"We continue with strikes that draw a very heavy price fromHamas," he said.

"We are destroying weapons, terror infrastructures, commandand control systems, Hamas institutions, regime buildings, thehouses of terrorists, and killing terrorists of various ranks ofcommand... The campaign against Hamas will expand in thecoming days, and the price the organization will pay will be veryheavy."

Yet in 2007, shortly before Operation Cast Lead, Israel's other major incursion into Palestinianterritory, Ya'alon said: "Proceeds of a Palestinian gas sale to Israel would likely not trickle down tohelp an impoverished Palestinian public. Rather, based on Israel's past experience, the proceeds willlikely serve to fund further terror attacks against Israel."

Israel's concerns aren't only that the gas revenue could fund terrorist attacks. The country itself isfacing an energy shortage. In 2012 Israeli scientists warned in Ha'aretz that the country mightexhaust its offshore reserves within 40 years. Although there are huge reserves in the Levant BasinProvince they are in contested waters also claimed by Syria, Cyprus and Lebanon – as well as Gaza.

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Israeli soldiers ride atop a tank outsidethe southern Gaza Strip. Reuters

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