-> I can only imagine how frustrated energy officials in Gaza are right now with Hamas. Hamas just wasted years' worth of progress with Israel that led to better infrastructure and state-building capacities for all of Gaza's population. All gone. But what about the future? ->
I was asked by a reporter if it's plausible that a Gaza energy official would provide such sensitive information to an IDF officer. Surprisingly, yes. Energy is a rare arena where Israel & Gaza have been cooperating for years, and this will only expand after the war. A thread ->
-> Just in the past year, Israel & Gaza have been advancing several energy projects (see attached thread). Among them: the development of Gaza's gas field, the construction of a new power plant in Gaza, and the linking of a new power line with Israel ->
I posted this thread in June explaining why
#Israel
's right-wing government approved the development of the
#GazaMarine
gas field after 20 years. It was just one example of increased cooperation between Israel and Hamas in the past year, which included the
#Gas4Gaza
project. 🧵->
-> Just the fact that half of Gaza's electricity comes from Israel (see attached thread) means that engineers on both sides need to talk and coordinate repairs, load shedding, frequency, etc. In the process, they realize the other side isn't the devil ->
Following
#Israel
's decision to cut the
#electricity
supply to
#Gaza
, I'm sharing a short informational thread with background on Gaza's electricity sector and the consequences of the supply cut: In times of peace, 50% of the electricity in Gaza is provided by Israel for free ->
-> In this sense, Israel/Gaza energy cooperation is similar to Berlin pre-1990, or Nicosia, Belfast, Mitrovica, where engineers on both sides focused more on technical problem-solving than ideological problem-creating. See Prof. Tim Moss paper on Berlin ->
-> After the war in Gaza ends, regardless of its results, a lot of foreign aid money will poor into Gaza for electricity/water infrastructure reconstruction. Lots of bids to win. But it will likely still require coordination with Israel. Cooperating now will go a long way ->
-> What will Gaza's energy future look like after the war? My best assumption is that preference will be given to projects that make Gaza more energy-independent, as well as more connected to new PA-controlled power plants in the West Bank. More on that in a future thread /end