An official from Islamic Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, welcomed the decision of an Egyptian company to stop supplying gas to Israel.
Salah el-Bardaweel, a member of Hamas politburo, said the decision of the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company to stop gas supply to Israel “is a positive step forward, although it was late.”
“This step is better than keeping the previous situation. We are hoping that this step would be political and will be a first step towards canceling all the agreements of normalization with the state of occupation,” said al-Bardaweel.
The Hamas official called on all Egyptian official institutions “to permanently adopt the decision not to supply gas to Israel and carry out measures to send this gas to the Gaza Strip blockaded by Israel.”
“Such decisions would back the struggle of the Palestinian people, would serve Egyptian people’s interests, help the Egyptian economy and empower the principle of isolating Israel,” el- Bardaweel told Xinhua.
The state-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company on Sunday notified the East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG), which operates the gas export to Israel, that they have officially ended the 2005 contract selling up to 7 billion cubic meters of gas to Israel annually for 20 years.
According to the deal, Israel would get 40 percent of its gas from Egypt.
Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said in an immediate response that the issue is purely business- related and will not adversely affect the diplomatic ties between Egypt and Israel. While Israeli analysts believe that the cutoff will only have a limited effect on the Jewish state’s economy.
