to return home and see that my children burned themselves because they lit candles?”111 The use of candlelight for studying and homework by children has been detrimental to their concentration and ability to learn.112 Women are likewise particularly affected: housework and cooking can be impossible without electricity and gas. Families struggle to find ways to pay for both household expenses and generator fuel, all of which can lead to internal strife inthehome.113 This energy crisis could be completely averted if Palestinians in the oPt were allowed to develop their natural gas resources. As mentioned previously, these fields could produce $8 billion in revenue for Palestinians in the oPt. The Gaza Marine field alone could generate $2.5-7 billion over 15 years, saving the PA almost $560 million in energy expenditures.114 Gaza’s power plant could be converted to run on natural gas,115 and the two planned power stations in the West Bank could become operable. The electricity generated by all three of these plants would create an amount that would meet most of the present consumption in the oPt,116 as well as wastewater treatment and water desalinization in Gaza.117 Palestinians could invest in and develop their energy infrastructure, the important agricultural sector in Gaza,118 and local industries, while allowing for national development and planning.119 The access to these available resources could therefore alleviate the dire humanitarian, economic and energy situation in the oPt that has been caused by the illegal denial of energy services, the Palestinian right to exploit their natural energy sources, and the adequate living conditions that must be provided by Israel as an occupying power. Revenue from natural gas could not only fund long-term economic growth and create jobs, but more importantly could grant a level of energy independence.120 This has the 111 Nidal al-Mughrabi, “Energy crisis leaves Gaza with barely four hours of power a day,” Reuters, 12 January 2017, available at: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-gaza-energyidUSKBN14W1YG [accessed 18 August 2017]. 112 “Palestine Remix: Gaza Left in the Dark,” Al Jazeera, 2013, available at: https://interactive.aljazeera. com/aje/PalestineRemix/gaza-left-in-the-dark.html#story [accessed 18 August 2017]. 113 Oxfam International, “Electricity Crisis Brings Dark Times for Women in Gaza,”2012, available at: https://www.oxfam.org/en/occupied-palestinian-territory-and-israel/electricity-crisis-brings-darktimes-women-gaza [accessed 18 August 2017]. 114 Boersma and Natan, Gaza Marine, 9, supra note 96. 115 Ibid. 116 Mustafa, “Palestine’s Oil and Gas Resources,” supra note 92. 117 Boersma and Natan, Gaza Marine, 9, supra note 96. 118 Ibid. 119 Id. 10. 120 Mustafa, “Palestine’s Oil and Gas Resources,” supra note 92. 36