Experts: Israel violating international law by drilling for oil in Golan Heights

Israel’s decision to allow oil exploration in the southern area of the occupied Golan Heights violates international law and United Nations resolutions regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Anadolu Agency reported experts as saying.

Israel’s Jerusalem Post newspaper said last week that Afek Oil will begin drilling in the Golan Heights after receiving the necessary approval from the Israeli government.

Professor of International Law at Cairo University, Dr Ahmad Abu Al-Wafa, told the Anadolu Agency that the move contradicts international resolutions regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict, in particular resolution No. 3175 which recognises the right of Arab states and people under foreign occupation to have sovereignty over their national resources.

Abu Al-Wafa pointed out that all measures taken by Israel to exploit the human or natural resources in the occupied Arab lands are illegal, stressing that the UN General Assembly affirms the right of Arab countries and people whose territories were occupied by Israel to recover their lands.

The United Nations resolution No. 3175 says that Arab states are entitled to full compensation for the exploitation of their natural resources and the damages they sustained as a result of the occupation, he said.

The Supreme Court of Israel issued a decision last year to temporarily halt all oil exploration operations undertaken by Afek Oil, but it cancelled the decision on 23 December, 2014.

Meanwhile, protests by environmentalists resulted in the postponement of the drilling on several occasions.

The Chairman of the Popular Committee for the Defence of Egypt’s Oil Rights, Dr Ramadan Abu El-Ella, said that Israel is using the chaos in Syria to violate its natural resources without any respect to international law.

He said that Syria, Egypt and Arab countries which suffered from the Israeli aggression during the 1967 war have a right to compensation.

The popular committee to defend Egypt’s oil rights initiated international lawsuits against Israel demanding $10 billion in compensation for depleting Egypt’s oil reserves in the period from 1967 until 1974, during Israel’s occupation of the Sinai Peninsula.

Abu El-Ella said that Syria has the legal right to demand compensation from Israel for stealing its natural resources during the occupation according to international law and international treaties and resolutions.

Israel occupied the Golan Heights in 1967.