The government is holding discussions on the development of a gas reservoir for Palestinian Arabs called "Marine", which would be located about 30 kilometers from the shores of Gaza, Channel 13 News reported on Thursday evening.
According to the report, the discussions are part of the political and security processes taking place between Israel and the Palestinian Authority following recent summits in Aqaba and Sharm el-Sheikh.
The approval to start the series of discussions came from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and the discussions are being led by National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi and the head of the Head of the Unit for Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, Major General Ghasan Alyan.
The report also said that some complexities have been brought up by the Israeli side in the discussions: Since legally only states have the ability to develop gas reservoirs, the Palestinian Authority cannot do this on its own, so the solution would be for Egypt to sponsor this project. Israel has already started talks with the Egyptians, and there have even been meetings on the subject between senior Israeli and Egyptian officials in recent times.
Another point is the security issue: It is estimated that Hamas will try to sabotage the move, so the question is how the development can be made possible. Another challenge is that any such move may provoke sharp public criticism on the topic of the missing Israelis being held in Gaza, despite the fact that this the talks on the gas reservoir are with the Palestinian Authority and not with Hamas in Gaza.
The offices of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense did not comment on the report.