A natural gas field has been discovered on the coast of the Gaza Strip, a senior Hamas movement official revealed Tuesday.
Fishermen in Gaza noticed bubbles coming out from the seawater around 300 metres from the beach last week, said Salem Salama, a member of the economy committee of the Hamas-dominated parliament.
"As soon as gas was discovered, experts and engineers rushed to the scene, checked and found out that it is a field of natural gas," Salama told reporters.
The government of the Gaza Strip is discussing how to invite foreign companies to help turn it into a producing field.
"It is our right to use our natural resources without any foreign interference," Salama said. "We face obstacles to produce gas because the Gaza Strip is under the tight Israeli blockade."
It was the second gas field discovered along the salient's shores.
The first was found in the mid 1990s.
The Gaza Strip suffers from a severe shortage of energy, mainly fuel for engines and cooking gas.
DPA