The Palestinians own two gas fields in the Mediterranean off the shores of Gaza that were discovered in 1999 and 2000, but Israel did not enable them to extract the gas and benefit from it.
Palestinian leaders and representatives from Arab, Islamic and European countries demanded, on Wednesday, the right of the Palestinian people to the natural gas fields in the Mediterranean, off the coast of the Gaza Strip.
During a session of the Legislative Council in Gaza, at the Gaza port, the leaders and representatives called for "protecting the Palestinians' right to establish a marine waterway linking the besieged sector to the outside world."
In 2018, the Palestinian Constitutional Court dissolved the Legislative Council that was elected in 2006, and Hamas won a majority of its seats at the time, but the latter refuses to accept the court's decision, saying that it is an "illegal political decision."
Acting Speaker of the Legislative Council, Ahmed Bahr, said: "We call on the resistance to protect the rights of our people and their natural resources from Zionist looting, and to defend our right to live in freedom and safety."
Bahr appealed, according to a statement issued by the council after the session, to the Arab, Islamic and international parliaments to "launch a campaign to support the Palestinians' right to recover their rights to their natural resources and gas fields, inaugurate the safe sea waterway, as well as activate efforts to break the siege of Gaza."
He also called on the United Nations to "protect this Palestinian right in accordance with international and humanitarian covenants and laws."
In turn, Mushir al-Masri, a leader in the "Hamas" movement, said: "We demand the right of the Palestinian people to their natural resources, capabilities and gas fields."
He added in statements to Anadolu Agency on the sidelines of his participation in the session: "We are going through all options to recover the rights and capabilities of the people and to remove the enemy from our land."
For his part, Nasser Al-Sanea, head of the World Forum of Islamist Parliamentarians, called, according to the statement, "international and human rights organizations to work to break the siege on Gaza, which contravenes all international laws and covenants."
As for Adnan Faihan Musa, head of the "Al-Sadiquon" parliamentary bloc in the Iraqi parliament, he said, according to the statement: "Iraq, with all its components, stands with the Palestinian people and their just cause."
He called on "the Arab League and the Arab Parliament to support the Palestinian right to invest its wealth and freedom of movement."
For his part, Youssef Ajisa, Deputy Speaker of the Algerian Parliament, said, according to the statement, "His country stands with the Palestinian people and their right to enjoy their wealth and capabilities, and to have a sea corridor and an air airport, in accordance with international laws."
In this context, Richard Boydbarrett, head of the Palestine Group in the Irish Parliament, considered "the occupation practices against Gaza a war crime and a violation of international law," according to the statement.
The deputy called, according to the statement, to "lift the occupation's hand on Palestinian resources, especially natural gas in the Gaza Sea."
The statement quoted Luis Coelho, a representative of the Chilean Communist Party, as saying that "the Palestinian people have the right to obtain gas, which prevents the siege on Gaza from extracting and benefiting from it."
And he called for "the occupation to be held accountable for violating international law and for stealing the capabilities of an occupied people."
The Palestinians own two gas fields in the Mediterranean off the shores of Gaza that were discovered in 1999 and 2000, but Israel did not enable them to extract the gas and benefit from it.
The first field was called "Gaza Marine" and is completely located within the Palestinian territorial waters opposite Gaza City, while the second field is "Marine 2" and is located within the maritime border area between Gaza and Israel.
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