The United States, for its part, approaches fossil fuels in the Eastern Mediterranean as both a business opportunity for American companies and a means to further its own diplomatic aims in the region, premised on the idea that economic interdependence (in this case on gas) breeds stability. A U.S.-brokered agreement between Lebanon and Israel last year made it possible for international companies to start exploring for reserves in Lebanese waters, ostensibly resolving a tense dispute over which nation could claim which offshore reserves. More recently, the U.S. weighed in on behalf of Chevron in a dispute with Cypriot officials over the company’s development plans for the Aphrodite gas field.
As Israel continued to kill thousands in Gaza, the Energy Ministry announced in late October that it had granted licenses to six companies to explore for gas in the Mediterranean. Winners included BP, the Italian firm Eni, and SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil company. “Even now, major natural gas exploration companies put their trust in Israel’s robustness and want to invest here,” Katz wrote in the announcement.
As might be expected, Palestinians have been broadly excluded from Israel’s newfound Mediterranean wealth. Israel has for nearly 30 years blocked development of gas fields located plainly within the marine borders of Gaza, where access to fuel, electricity, and water has been tightly controlled by Israel since its blockade began in 2007. As recently as September, the Israeli government had seemingly agreed to allow Egypt to partner with the Palestinian Authority to develop a gas field known as Gaza Marine, containing around one trillion cubic feet of gas. The current status of that deal remains unclear; a spokesperson for the Israeli Energy Ministry declined to comment. Government officials, meanwhile, including Netanyahu, have grown increasingly brazen in their calls to eventually control all of Gaza.