by Andrea Pinto
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu consider the city of Rafah (on the border with Egypt) the last stronghold of Hamas, therefore, believes that taking it is an obligation in order to win the war. He then gave the order to his army to plan the evacuation of civilians from the area, in view of a ground invasion.
Cairo's response was immediate late yesterday, threatening to suspend its peace treaty with Tel Aviv in the event of an invasion of the city of Rafah. Rafh today welcomes, with immense difficulty, millions of Palestinians who have fled from the northern area of the Gaza Strip.
Cairo's fear is that in the event of a military invasion, millions of Palestinians will be forced to cross the border into Egypt, thus constituting an immense refugee camp in its territory, difficult to manage and with uncertain and dangerous political implications for the already fragile stability. of the region. It would, in essence, be an indirect invasion caused by another State, thus formalizing an overbearing interference, also violating the rules of international law. The premises are all there also because Tel Aviv, in unsuspecting times, declared its intention to militarize Gaza, or, in short, to control every activity. The most suspicious think that Israel wants to permanently occupy the Strip by annexing the entire territory facing the sea. That stretch of sea which, ironically, welcomes in its seabed, along the coasts inoffshore Israeli, an immense methane gas field called Leviathan (the largest in the Mediterranean) which runs north between Cyprus and Lebanon (the southern area is controlled by Hezbollah).
The Leviathan field, first discovered in 2010, is one of the largest gas discoveries in the world. The estimate is that it could have from 500 to 800 billion cubic meters of natural gas, sufficient to satisfy 100% of Israel's internal energy needs for more than 40 years, thus leaving a surplus for export1.
Netanyahu, to dispel any doubts, was quick to declare last night on Fox News Sunday that "there's plenty of space north of Rafah to go“. The Israeli prime minister also said that the army will redirect the displaced people “with flyers, cell phones and safe corridors".
Cairo also warned that the outbreak of fighting in the border area would jeopardize the entry of humanitarian aid through the Rafah crossing, the only safe access route towards the Palestinian enclave.
From Washington, Biden warned Tel Aviv that a credible plan capable of protecting civilians is needed before starting any offensive in the city of Rafah. Also the Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other countries have threatened serious repercussions if Israel enters Rafah. “An Israeli offensive in Rafah would lead to an unspeakable humanitarian catastrophe and serious tensions with Egypt.", wrote the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell about X. From him Hamas he said an offensive against Rafah would scuttle ceasefire talks brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt and would end any possibility of negotiations for the return of the approximately 100 hostages still held in the Strip.
Meanwhile the Gaza Ministry of Health declared last night that in the last 24 hours the bodies of 112 people killed throughout the territory, as well as 173 injured, had been taken to hospitals. The casualties brought the death toll in the Strip to 28.176 since the start of the war.
- Abroad the gas will be transported by pipeline EastMed. The project foresees approximately 1.900 kilometers of underwater pipes from Israel to Greece, with a depth that in some places would even reach i 3 thousand meters, to then connect to offshore section of the Poseidon pipeline (another 210 kilometers) from Greece to Italy (Otranto). Together the two pipelines would constitute a mega fossil infrastructure, promoted by the Italian company Edison (controlled by the French EDF) and the Greek DEPA, united in the joint venture IGI Poseidon. With the support of Rome and Brussels. Among the companies involved in exploration in the eastern Mediterranean basin, writes Forbes, to extract the gas that should be transported by the infrastructure, there are Chevron Corporation, ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies and the Italian ENI, which is pushing to transform our country into a European gas hub also through projects such as EastMed-Poseidon. It's a shame, however, that ENI's plan to make our country a gas hub will undoubtedly mean this violate the Paris Agreement, slow down the energy transition and further bind us to a polluting fuel.
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