Highlights:
Is Eni stealing Palestinian gas in collusion with Israel?. The Italian
government is the largest shareholder in the energy giant Eni, with a
stake of 32% (social networking sites) The Palestinian Gaza Marine field
is one of the oldest gas fields discovered in the eastern Mediterranean
region. Despite the discovery of the Gaza offshore field since 2000,
its resources, which are estimated at more than one trillion cubic feet
of natural gas, are still locked in the ground. Eni confirmed that "no
agreement in particular has yet to be signed, and that it currently has
no activity in the region"
The issue of the Gaza gas field returned to the spotlight following
the legal notice sent by the American law firm Foley Hoag - on behalf of
Palestinian human rights organizations - to the Italian company “Eni”
and international and Israeli energy companies.
The Italian government is the largest shareholder in the energy giant Eni, with a stake of 32% (social networking sites)
Rome -
The Palestinian Gaza Marine field is one of the oldest gas fields
discovered in the eastern Mediterranean region, and it is seen as a
promising opportunity for the Palestinians who suffer from a scarcity of
energy resources, amid their suffering from the Israeli occupation.
Despite the discovery of the Gaza offshore field
since 2000, its resources, which are estimated at more than one trillion
cubic feet of natural gas - which far exceeds the needs of the
Palestinian people - are still locked in the ground and have not been
exploited commercially until now due to Israel’s obstruction of all
efforts aimed at establishing an independent energy infrastructure. For
the Palestinians, it is also trying to seize these resources to export
them through deals with neighboring countries with the participation of
European Union member states.
Warning
At the beginning of this month, the issue of the
Gaza gas field returned to the spotlight following the legal notice sent
by the American law firm Foley Hoag - on behalf of Palestinian human
rights organizations - to the Italian energy giant Eni and other
international and Israeli energy companies.
The office warned it not to proceed with exploration
activities in the Gaza offshore well, which is owned by the Palestinian
people, in accordance with the provisions of the 1982 United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea, which the State of Palestine signed in
2019.
This warning comes after Israel announced last
October 29 that it had granted a license to the Italian energy company
to operate in the Gaza field, which Palestinian human rights
organizations considered a violation of international law.
Director of the Center for International Legal
Studies, Fabio Marcelli, said in an interview with Al Jazeera Net that
Eni's contract with Israel constitutes a violation of international law,
which prohibits the occupying authority from disposing of the natural
resources found in the lands it occupies, including the adjacent marine
areas.
Marcelli warned that the company's mere initiation
of exploration activities to exploit resources belonging to the
Palestinians would make it a partner of the State of Israel, which is
now burdened with accurate and documented accusations of committing
genocide before the International Court of Justice.
The same spokesman pointed out that "Eni's
complicity" - which is considered a public company - in such crimes will
extend to the government of Georgia Meloni, which is working to supply
Israel with part of the weapons it uses to carry out genocide in the
Gaza Strip.
For its part, Eni explained - in an exclusive
statement to Al Jazeera Net - that it "obtained - along with other
companies - exploration licenses based on an international tender, and
that licenses related to the exploration activities expected in October
2023 were granted."
The company confirmed that "no agreement in
particular has yet to be signed, and that it currently has no activity
in the region, and that wherever it operates, it is keen to ensure that
its activities are consistent with international law and best safety
practices."
A legal warning to the Italian company “Eni” not to
explore in the Gaza offshore field that belongs to the Palestinian
people (Reuters)
evade
With the continuation of the Israeli aggression on
Gaza, the matter has become embarrassing, not only for Eni, but also for
the Italian government itself, which is the largest shareholder in the
company by 32%.
This was evident in the responses of Italian Foreign
Minister Antonio Tayani - last Wednesday - during the parliamentary
questioning when he tried to evade the government's responsibility in
this case, stressing that the company located in the entire
Mediterranean region is listed on the stock exchange and operates
according to market rules.
Tayani tried to downplay the importance of the
agreement, referring to Eni’s confirmation that the contract is still
under preparation, and that there are no ongoing exploration operations
yet in the area in question.
He also tried to reduce the pressure exerted on the
Italian company, pointing out the importance of reconciling economic
interests with the legitimate aspirations of peoples, and stressing the
necessity of defining borders and maritime areas in accordance with
rules dictated by international law.
The government official added, "We are facing an
issue of conflict of interest, and the best solution is the path of
mediation, dialogue, and finding solutions through negotiation, similar
to the agreement reached by Lebanon and Israel in October 2022 regarding
the demarcation of their maritime borders."
In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera Net,
Angelo Bonelli, the official spokesman for Green Europe and
representative of the Green and Left Alliance, denounced Tayani's
statements, describing them as unacceptable.
Bonelli - who interrogated the Foreign Minister in
Parliament regarding the issue - confirmed that Israel - in accordance
with Article 55 of the Hague Treaty - does not have the right to use
Palestinian natural resources to achieve its own economic gains.
He said, "We know very well that the energy issue is
very important to our country, but there are also lofty morals and
values that lead us to say that at a time when more than 30,000
Palestinian civilians are being killed today, there are those who are
trying to steal their resources to achieve their own profits."
In response to Al Jazeera Net's question about what
initiatives he intends to take during the coming period, the Italian MP
revealed his party's intention to plead before the European Court of
Justice against the company "Eni" in an international case.
Discreetly
For his part, journalist Alberto Negri - in an
interview with Al Jazeera Net - described Tayani's statements as
"ridiculous", and that they were "a desperate attempt to climb onto a
sheet of glass."
He said that the minister's talk about the absence
of any activities yet to exploit Palestinian natural resources is due to
the fact that the exploration phase has not begun and must be
completed.
Negri explained to Al Jazeera Net, "Eni has
certainly not spoken in the past, nor even the Italian government, about
concluding an agreement with Israel to exploit the Gaza gas field. Had
it not been for the warning that reached the company in the past few
days, this incident would have remained hidden from Italian public
opinion."
He explained the attempt by Eni and the Italian
government to conceal the agreement by saying that the war and the
Israeli massacres against the Palestinians had already begun, and
therefore they had to announce their suspension as a minimum.
Negri added, "Our Foreign Minister's talk about
conflicts of interest and preferring the path of mediation and dialogue
in such cases is nothing but a speck of dust in the eyes, because Eni
did not negotiate with the Palestinians, but only with the Israeli
government, even though the Gaza Marine field was discovered a year
ago." 2000, and the Palestinians have not been able to extract gas from
it until now due to the severe blockade imposed by Israel on the Gaza
Strip since 2007.”
Source: Al Jazeera
