An Israeli political source said, on Sunday evening, that the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas, will not benefit from the decision to develop the gas field off the coast of the Strip.

The website of the Hebrew newspaper Israel Hayom quoted the source as saying that as long as there is no tangible progress in the issue of the Israeli prisoners and missing persons, Hamas and the Gaza Strip will not benefit from the development of the gas field.

The source pointed out that all the Israeli security services gave their approval to develop the field 23 years after its discovery, without clarifying how the profits will be prevented from being converted into payments as salaries for those carrying out the operations that the Palestinian Authority continues to pay the money to.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced this afternoon that it had instructed the competent authorities to start developing the gas field, in coordination with Egypt and the Palestinian Authority.