The Israeli occupation Energy Ministry confirmed on Friday that it will take several years before "Israel" can significantly increase its natural gas supplies to Europe.

Last June, the Israeli occupation and Egypt signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Union, in which they send more gas to the bloc as part of its efforts to diversify its energy resources away from Russia.

Answering a question about the date of the delivery of the new supplies under the framework agreement, the Director-General of the Israeli occupation Energy Ministry, Lior Schillat, indicated that this "will take some time."

"In the short term, there will be some increase but the big numbers will come later," Schillat told Reuters on the sidelines of the COP27 climate summit in Egypt.

The official explained that the Israeli occupation expects to be able to significantly increase its gas production within three to four years.

"It is true that most of our surplus gas will be created in the next three to four years," Schillat said.

"So clearly, it's not an immediate ability to supply gas in the short term. We're talking about a relatively low amount here."

Over the past decade, the Israeli occupation has become an energy exporter after discovering a number of offshore gas reservoirs in occupied Palestine.

In mid-September, then-Israeli occupation Prime Minister Yair Lapid said "Israel" can deliver about 10% of the gas Europe received from Russia last year.

"We are going to be part of the effort to replace Russian gas in Europe," Lapid mentioned following a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin.

It is noteworthy that in late October, the Israeli occupation signed an indirect US-mediated agreement with Lebanon over the demarcation of the maritime borders, which will illegally allow it to extract stolen Palestinian gas to sell to Europe.