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"The most vehement of mankind in hostility"

Israel's merciless bombing in Gaza: The pretext for the control of Gaza levant gas reserves

Sultana Afroz
FALSELY accusing Hamas of involvement in the “foul murder" of three kidnapped Israeli teenage hikers, Israel set the stage to trigger a full-scale assault against the Gaza Strip on July 7, 2014. The assault, named Operation Protective Edge, comes in the midst of total disarray and dismay in the Middle East as lines of state demarcations of Iraq and Syria are being obliterated by creation of an Islamic Caliphate by ISIS, ostensibly with US-Israel military assistance, to redraw the map of the Middle East.
The region waits with trepidation the outcome of an imminent pronouncement of an independent Iraqi Kurdistan. With the impending breakup of Iraq, submission of all lethal chemical weapons by Syria to the international body, and with General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi firmly in power in Egypt with US-Israel blessings, Israel, with no imminent threat from Syria or from the Muslim Brotherhood, finds this the best opportune moment to undertake its agenda of claiming the coveted resources of Gaza. Additionally, Iran and Hezbollah of Lebanon are engaged in Syria protecting the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad from the forces of Syrian rebels and al-Qaeda mercenaries financed by the US-Nato and the GCC members.
In the name of protecting its citizens from the rockets fired by Hamas from Gaza, Israel, with no restraint from the international community or a redundant Arab League, engages with full immunity and ferocity in brutal air, sea and land assault to establish its sovereign claim over the offshore gas resources of Gaza, which forms part of the broader Levant gas and oil reserves. Apparently, this assault is a follow up of Operation Cast Lead of 2009, during which Israel had confiscated Palestinian gas fields in violation of
international law. Following Operation Cast Lead, Israel announced the discovery of the Leviathan natural gas field in the Eastern Mediterranean "off the coast of Israel," covering 83,000 square kilometers. Almost 60% of the gas reserves along the Gaza-Israel coastline belong to Palestine.
Gaza Strip, which is 360 kilometers or 130 sq. miles in size, is perhaps, the world's most densely populated area with 1.8 million people. Located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, Gaza borders Egypt on the southwest for 11 kilometers (6.8 mi) and Israel on the east and north along a 51 km (32 mi) border. Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has been de-facto governed by Hamas, a popularly elected party but rejected by Israel and the US-UK-EU as a terrorist organisation. Gaza is part of a nonexistent Palestinian state since 1948 and is separated from the West Bank, which houses the Palestinian Authority, a fictional government in an Israeli occupied territory.
There was a sigh of relief when Israel unilaterally disengaged from Gaza in 2005, bringing an end to direct Israeli occupation as stipulated in the Oslo Accord signed in 1993. But beneath this Israeli unilateral disengagement from Gaza is a heinous agenda to control the lives of the people of Gaza without holding onto the lands directly, thereby giving the impression to the international community that Israel is not for “grabbing of Palestinian lands" and that it abides by international agreements. In actuality, unilateral disengagement meant Israel never signed any agreement with an equal partner whereby it renounced Gaza as an integral part of Israel, thus retaining the right to undertake aggressive incursions into Gaza territory whenever its interests dictate. There is also no renouncement of Israel's control over the natural resources of Gaza such as gas, oil and water. Israel does not recognise the political gover-
nance of Hamas in Gaza. Since disengagement, Israel has been dictating the economic livelihood of Gaza by enforcing physical blockade and sanctions to conduct free trade with other countries.
Ignoring all international norms, Israel unilaterally enforced conditions on its withdrawal from Gaza: firstly, only Israel to have control over the airspace and territorial waters of Gaza, with limited fishing rights to Palestinians; secondly, Israel to control the movement of people, goods and services in or out of Gaza by land, air or sea, as well as the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza to be monitored by special surveillance cameras; and thirdly, Gaza to have no military force, reminiscent of the policy pursued by the British mandatory authorities in Palestine to systematically disarm the Arab Palestinians while arming the Jewish Legion and its affiliates such as the Hagana.
By sealing it off from the rest of the world, Israel has made Gaza the world’s biggest open prison. At times of Israeli assault, such as the present Operation Protective Edge, there is "no place to hide" and "no escape route" to Egypt as the Rafah Gate is closed in accordance with the commitment made by Egypt to prevent the smuggling of weapons and people across the Egyptian border. Gaza becomes an inferno, a living hell with every Israeli assault. Any assault against Hamas, thus, becomes an assault against all the citizens of Gaza, "a collective punishment," aiming to eliminate a large number of Palestinians. This mass killing reflects Prime Minister Ben Gurion's doctrine: "The destruction of the Palestinian Society in Palestine is a necessary condition for the establishment of the state of Israel on its ruins." Additionally, the intended aim of Israel in pursuing the policy of controlling the movement of humans, goods and services of Gaza is "slow starvation” of the entire population of Gaza. Israel, with
Egyptian assistance, often undertakes demolition operations of underground tunnels which are conduits for the flow of humans, goods and necessities for Gaza citizens.
Operation Protective Edge is a necessity for Israel to carve out a protective edge of the Gaza offshore gas reserves before the international community decides on the assets and boundaries of a future Palestinian state. Following the failure of the American brokered Israel-Palestine Peace negotiations to reach any agreement by April 2014, the newly formed Palestinian Fatah-Hamas unity government is "focusing on its diplomatic and legal struggle for international recognition of Palestine as a state under occupation and for Israel to be held accountable as the "occupier." Israel is apprehensive of the growing international appeal for a viable Palestinian state as the latter enjoys the the designation of "State of Palestine” in all official United Nations documents since 2012. As of September 27, 2013, 134 of the 193 member states of the United Nations have recognised the State of Palestine. The issue of sovereignty over the gas reserves is essential as it would give an economic leverage to Palestine.
Israel is in the process of integrating the adjoining gas fields in the Levant Basin area, including those belonging to Gaza, into the orbit of Israel. It holds de facto control over Gaza gas reserves. Apparently, geopolitical analysts are of the view that the military occupation of Gaza is intent upon transferring the sovereignty of the gas fields to Israel in violation of international law. Israel will respond to the call for ceasefire only when it is in a position to make a unilateral declaration of Israeli sovereignty over Gaza's maritime areas. Until then, the death of hundreds of Palestinians matters little to Israel, which is a state bom out of terrorism in 1948.
The writer taught at the University of The West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica, for three decades.