Days of Palestine, West Bank -Israeli oil extraction is “form of stealing Palestinian natural resources,” Palestinian Authority (PA) official said on Monday.
Israeli has recently discovered an oil well near the Dead Sea in area C of the occupied Palestinian territories and announced it is its own property.
“This is a violation of international resolutions as the newly discovered oil well is located in Area C which should have been moved to Palestinian control 18 years ago,” Chairman of the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction (PECDAR) Mohamed Shtayyeh said.
The PA leadership, he said, is going to call for compensation over any violations carried out by Israel in this regard.
He also noted that the Dead Sea is one of the main natural resources of the Palestinian people, but Israel had been depleting it since 1948.
Shtayyeh called for international intervention regarding the issue of Palestinian oil, noting that the expected income from this well is not large, but it would have a positive impact on the Palestinian economy.
He also noted that Israel is stealing Palestinian oil from Rantis well near Ramallah and prevents Palestinians from using their gas along the Mediterranean and prevents them from having tourism facilities in the Dead Sea.
The PA official blamed Israel for stifling the Palestinian economy and stealing Palestinian resources, barring investment opportunities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and delaying the reconstruction of Gaza, noting that this has caused “unprecedented” rates of unemployment.
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