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Israel, Azerbaijan Strengthen Strategic Alliance With Gas Exploration Deal Signing in Jerusalem
Israeli Minister of Energy Eli Cohen (right) shaking hands with Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov as Israel and Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR sign a gas exploration license agreement in Jerusalem, March 17, 2025. Photo: Screenshot
Israel and Azerbaijan strengthened their strategic alliance on Monday as Azerbaijan’s state oil company, SOCAR, signed a gas exploration license agreement in Jerusalem.
The agreement, expected to strengthen Israel’s energy security, marked the latest development of the Jewish state and the predominantly Shi’ite Muslim country continuing to expand their cooperation and strengthen bilateral ties amid increasing regional tensions.
During a visit to Israel, Azerbaijan’s Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov, who also serves as chairman of SOCAR, signed the gas exploration deal with Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen, the Israeli Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure announced on Monday.
During our working visit to Israel, alongside Rovshan Najaf (@RovshanNajaf), the President of SOCAR (@SOCARofficial), we attended the presentation ceremony of exploration licenses for Block “I” in Israel’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). These licenses offer strategic advantages… pic.twitter.com/ZVoclkmyTP
— Mikayil Jabbarov (@MikayilJabbarov) March 17, 2025
As part of our working visit to Israel, a #MemorandumofUnderstanding was signed between #SOCAR (@SOCARofficial) and Union Energy on joint exploration activities in Israel’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The implementation of this agreement will drive the expansion of the… pic.twitter.com/VpmgiHBuqU
— Mikayil Jabbarov (@MikayilJabbarov) March 17, 2025
Part of a consortium that included British multinational oil and gas firm BP and Israel’s NewMed Energy, SOCAR will now have the right to explore one offshore block in the Mediterranean, with three years to conduct seismic surveys to assess the potential presence of gas reserves.
“The entry of SOCAR and BP is excellent news for the State of Israel,” Cohen said in a statement. “Natural gas is a strategic asset that strengthens our economic and political standing in the world in general and in the Middle East in particular. Therefore, especially these days, we are working to expand natural gas production, for the benefit of the local economy and for exports.”
Meanwhile, Jabbarov referred to the “strategic alliance” between Israel and Azerbaijan while documenting his trip on social media.
In 2023, SOCAR secured the exploration rights via a tender from Israel’s Energy Ministry to drill in Mediterranean fields near the Leviathan field, one of the largest offshore gas discoveries in the world. However, the signing was postponed due to the Israel-Hamas war.
The new exploration licenses will allow access to Cluster I — an area covering approximately 1,700 square kilometers in the northern part of Israel’s economic waters. In a statement, the Israeli Energy Ministry said this area “has hardly been explored in the past in terms of natural resources.”
During his visit, Jabbarov also met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and senior business leaders. He is the first Azerbaijani minister to visit Israel since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which triggered the Gaza war.
Last month, Hikmet Hajiyev, the assistant to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss bilateral ties and regional developments on his second such trip in the last three months.
Azerbaijan’s ties with Israel have long been significant, with the country serving as the Jewish state’s most vital ally in the Caucasus and Central Asia for more than three decades, fostering a partnership that spans energy security, defense, and intelligence.
As of 2019, Azerbaijan supplied over a third of the Jewish state’s oil. Last year, Israel was the sixth-biggest buyer of oil from Azerbaijan, with sales totaling $713 million.
Meanwhile, Baku has acquired advanced Israeli defense systems, including the “Barak MX” missile system and surveillance satellites, and remains a leading buyer of Israeli military hardware, which was crucial in its 2020 war with Armenia.
Last month, Israel and SOCAR struck a major energy deal in which the Azerbaijani state oil company invested heavily in in Israel’s offshore gas fields. The deal made SOCAR a significant stakeholder in the Tamar gas field, which is a major natural gas source for Israel and has turned the country into a gas exporter in the region.
The agreement also marked one of the latest examples of Azerbaijan’s growing influence in the Middle East.
Azerbaijan’s strategic importance stems not only from its economic influence in the region but also from its role at the crossroads of a growing pro-Western bloc countering the regional ambitions of Iran, with which Azerbaijan shares a long border.
The Abraham Accords reshaped regional alliances during US President Donald Trump’s first term, and experts have argued that his current administration could further this shift, with Azerbaijan – a country that shares hundreds of miles of border with Iran while maintaining strong ties with Israel and Turkey – playing a key role in balancing regional power blocs and advancing Trump’s goals for the Middle East.
The post Israel, Azerbaijan Strengthen Strategic Alliance With Gas Exploration Deal Signing in Jerusalem first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.