US President Donald Trump has said America ,” does get over”  , the Gaza Strip, while the Palestinians who live there should be relocated to Jordan or Egypt.
Energy is one of the most important but neglected factors in making this choice. Israel and Gaza both have substantial onshore natural gas reserves. Developing these sources could help asset Gaza’s restoration.
But Trump needs to move quickly to capitalise on this once-in-a-lifetime option. Soviet natural gas is being pushed out of Europe in a desperate attempt. New vendors are being sought out.  , This is going time.
This break it down. Israel’s big offshore fuel fields—Leviathan, Tamar, and Dalit—are now in operation and/or being explored by Chevron &, some other midsized Jewish oil firms.
On February 4, Azerbaijan’s state power company SOCAR , acquired a 10 % stake , in the Tamar oil field.  , Did they know tomorrow’s Gaza news was coming?
Three months Before the October 7, 2023 attacks,  , Hamas made a US-brokered deal , to enable growth of a possible major oil field off the coastline of Gaza.
Then three months after October 7, Israel , controversially granted exploration rights , to Eni ( Italy ), Dana Energy ( UK) &, Ratio Petroleum ( Israel ) to explore within Palestine’s maritime boundaries.
Key power developments in the area have been making significant progress while the conflict in Gaza has been raging.
Qatar-Turkey pipelines
The Qatar-Turkey pipelines was planned to transport gas from Qatar through Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria to Turkey and Europe. In 2009, Syria’s then-leader Bashar al-Assad rejected the project.
Then that Assad is gone?
Turkey’s energy minister has  , publicly stated , the plan could be revived if” Syria achieves its territorial integrity and stability”. Qatar wants to expand its trade options beyond Crude supplies to pipelines.
And now these fast-moving innovations:
>, Five days ago,  , Qatar’s Emir was the first head of state to attend Syria since Assad’s drop.
>, Monday Syria’s president, Ahmad al-Sharaa , was in Saudi Arabia , for his first established overseas trip.
>, Now al-Sharaa , was in Turkey , meeting with President Erdogan.
Hmmm…
Iranian pipeline
Iran even has a program to , create a gas pipeline to Europe , via Iraq and Syria. Since 2016, there haven’t been any growth changes for the Persian Pipeline job. Given Syria’s fresh command and Iran’s fast-growing social isolation, that offer didn’t occur any time soon.
Since Muammar Gaddafi’s assassination in 2011 there has been a civil war or political crises in Libya.
However, things are improving. Two weeks ago a , big oil conference , was held in Tripoli with some Americans and Europeans in attendance. Now Libya’s Minister of Economy &, Trade , went people with plans , to maintain a restoration meeting ace.
With some of the nation’s largest reserves of oils, Libya is hoping to climb back into the game in a major way.
Why are all of these countries—Israel, Qatar, Libya, Syria and Turkey—moving swiftly to potentially grow their fuel supplies and/or network abilities?
Because Europe needs to replace Russian energy, and anyone who supplies that oil does have a significant amount of economic and political influence.
All of these people are aware of the urgency of a quick response before Russia steps in and the conflict in Ukraine is forgotten.
The US and EU want Russia out of Europe’s power supply network. The option? Many gas providers like as Israel, Qatar &, Libya. Now is the ideal time for all oil producers in the area to relocate.
Trump’s Gaza choice
How does moving Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt and/or Jordan aid in the fuel supply to Europe?
1 ) It removes a vital social problem. The Israeli-Palestinian issue has long been a hindrance to local economic growth.
2 ) Personally, many Arab states told the US they were in favor of hammering Hamas. This issue is resolved by totally removing the Palestinians from Gaza. Plus: no terror attacks on reconstruction crews, no acts of terrorism in Israel ( inviting yet another Israeli response ), and no chance onshore gas facilities are sabotaged.
3 ) This did fast-track oil development. With US support, Gaza’s gas fields may be immediately developed without outdoor intervention. Without constantly being threatened by violence and/or civil warfare, pipes can be constructed.
4 ) Divide and conquer. Make no mistake: if the majority of the people of Gaza stays it, anything will be almost impossible to accomplish. Any remaining kinetic energy may be sucked up as they are divided up, some going to Egypt, and the others going to Jordan, especially as the fresh Gaza is rebuilt and promises of economic development are made clear.
5 ) According to Bloomberg, rebuilding Gaza may charge more than US$ 80 billion. Someone has to give for it and it won’t be American citizens. The obvious answer is revenue from normal oil.
None of this will be simple. There are still huge challenges. But they are addressable:
>, Dangle network transit fees and/or offtake partnerships with Jordan and Egypt to help negotiate Gaza’s people …
In order to aid in the country’s rapid reconstruction, Trump leans on Qatar to give additional transport costs for Syria.
>, Massive infrastructure projects may offer jobs for young males in the region, reducing turmoil. Untold riches will be brought to places where there hasn’t been genuine economic growth in years thanks to gas flowing continuous to Europe.
The advantages
If this technique works, the benefits for Trump—and US international policy—could be great:
Would it be a stretch to see a Trump-brokered Saudi-Israel standardization? What about a broader Middle East authority that integrates Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Saudi, the UAE and Qatar into a local financial alliance?
Plus, this would switch Russia out of Europe’s energy structure for a generation – an huge earn for America. Selling gas to Europe , could , facilitate all of this.
Trump’s decision to remove Palestinians from Gaza may seem extreme. But when viewed through the lens of energy strategy, it makes more sense.
We’ll see if his administration can pull off one of the most nuanced foreign policy decisions in US history.
This article originally appeared on Resource Wars, and it has since been republished with permission. Read the original here.