Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld has taken a major role on the first contract to export gas from offshore Israel to a company in Palestine.

The US firm's London office is representing Palestine Power Generation Company (PPGC) in a $1.2bn (£730m) deal to buy 4.75bn cubic meters of natural gas from the Leviathan gas field over a 20-year period.

PPGC will use the gas to fuel a power plant the company is developing in Jenin, which will in turn help to generate electricity across the West Bank.