UNCLOS, Maritime Boundaries and Infrastructure as a Means for the Reconstruction of Gaza
- Orin Shefler
- Apr 4, 2023
- 2 min read
The starting point for future negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians regarding the maritime zones offshore the Gaza Strip ("Gaza") will no longer be as it was. The acting parties have internalized their lessons-learned from past interactions, and a new race has begun with respect to developing natural resources in the Mediterranean Sea. This race will undoubtably have a significant effect on the outcome of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Operation "Guardian of the Walls" was indeed harmful to the Hamas regime in Gaza but it did not bring about its downfall. The protracted political and diplomatic struggle between Israel and the Palestinian leadership, including the dispute over the maritime zones and natural resources deposits therein, has remained unchanged. In this article, I shall introduce a new premise which links between the delimitation of Israel's maritime boundaries in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ("UNCLOS"), regional cooperation and the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the reconstruction of Gaza. The traditional diplomatic and military process between Israel and the Palestinians has always hidden a complex layer of mutual claims to oil and gas reservoirs in the Mediterranean Sea. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has begun to stray from the classic security concepts, where the Palestinians are at an inherent disadvantage, and are shifting to other arenas, where the Palestinians have a better chance of achieving their political aspirations with far-reaching economic implications. Perhaps, from within this new reality, new opportunities could allow for a more efficient balance of interests with respect to the exploitation of natural resources in the Mediterranean Sea for the benefit of the State of Israel, Egypt and the Palestinians, under state-sponsorship of stakeholder countries.
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