The three Palestinian NGOs of Al-Haq, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights have warned energy firms awarded exploration rights off of Gaza's coast by "Israel's" energy ministry that they could face legal action for violating Palestinian maritime sovereignty.

Italian energy giant Eni, UK-based Dana Energy, and "Israel's" Ratio Petroleum have been notified by lawyers on behalf of the rights groups in a letter that they [the NGOs] would use "all legal mechanisms to the fullest extent" if they [the companies] still continued their activities.

The Palestinian NGOs also urged them to “desist” from any activities relating to the licenses.

In the letter shared by Al Mezan Center for Human Rights website, “Israel cannot have validly awarded you any exploration rights and you cannot validly have acquired such rights… We urge you to refrain from signing any of the license documents; and in the alternative, we urge you to desist from undertaking any activities in areas of Zone G that Palestine claims, as any such activities would constitute a flagrant violation of international law,” the three NGOs said.

“Further still, any attempt to explore for and exploit natural resources claimed by Palestine risks breaching international humanitarian law, including the law of occupation,” they added, noting that “under that law, Israel has no right to exploit Palestine’s natural resources, including offshore resources, for its own benefit.”

Complicity is liability

The Palestinian NGOs stated that more than half of the zone lies within Palestine's maritime boundaries - declared in 2015 when they acceded to the international agreement providing the legal framework for all marine and maritime activities, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

They also highlighted and recalled in the letter the fact that the International Criminal Court has ordered an investigation into "Israel's" crimes in Gaza. 

“Complicity in war crimes like pillage is also a serious criminal offence and corporate actors can be subject to individual criminal liability,” they said. 

It is reported that Adalah, an organization that advocates for Palestinians' rights in the occupied territories, petitioned the Israeli energy ministry and attorney general to withdraw the licenses awarded, saying that "Israel" in doing so violates international humanitarian law and the law of the sea as "Israel" has not acceded to UNCLOS.

"Israel's move to establish facts on the ground in such a manner are illegal and carried out in bad faith," Adalah said in its letter.

Back in November, "Israel" confirmed that the Tamar gas field, located 80 km away from the occupied coast of Haifa in occupied Palestine, has been shut down since the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.

The Israeli website, Calcalist, underscored that "the billions spent by the state ("Israel") on defense do not provide the goods, and a flare-up in the northern arena could also disable Leviathan." This comes after the report revealed that over 3 billion Shekels were spent, but the Resistance's operation proved they were "not sufficient" at best.