A new study commissioned by the non-profit Oil Change International (OCI) has exposed that the ongoing supply of oil is fuelling what it calls Israel’s continuing “genocide”.
Legal experts have cautioned that countries supplying oil and fuel to Israel could be held responsible for being “complicit in war crimes committed in Gaza”, according to an August report by Middle East Eye. These experts highlighted that providing essential resources, such as fuel, to a country involved in military operations that might be in violation of international law could be considered as supporting those actions.
A new study commissioned by the non-profit Oil Change International (OCI) has exposed that the ongoing supply of oil is fuelling what it calls Israel’s continuing “genocide”. The research highlights that an increasing number of countries that are signatories to the Genocide Convention and Geneva Conventions have been responsible for shipping crude and refined petroleum products since October.
Israel depends a lot on these fuel shipments to keep its fighter jets, tanks and military vehicles running during its attacks on Gaza. The fuel also powers bulldozers that are used to demolish Palestinian homes in the West Bank.
A team of OCI researchers traced 65 oil and fuel shipments that were made to Israel between October 21, 2023, and July 12, 2024. They discovered that these countries had supplied a total of 4.1 million tons of crude oil to Israel since the start of the Gaza conflict. Nearly half of these oil exports were shipped after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a ruling in January, ordering Israel to halt its actions in Gaza. The ICJ gave out a clear warning that those nations which were aiding Israel with oil and fuel stood the chance of being held complicit in genocide if they continued doing so.
In its July advisory opinion, the court also ruled that Israel’s presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories was illegal. It concluded that all countries had a responsibility not to provide any help, or support, which would aid in maintaining Israel’s Gaza blitzkrieg. The study revealed that nearly 80% of the jet fuel, diesel and other refined petroleum products that the US exported to Israel had been sent after the ICJ ruling.
Although Azerbaijan is still the main supplier of crude oil to Israel, Italy, Albania and Greece, too, provided unrefined oil to the country after the ruling. The report also noted a rise in oil supplies from Africa. While Gabon is still the main crude oil supplier to Israel, shipments are now also coming from Nigeria and Congo-Brazzaville. Since October 7 last year—the beginning of the conflict—Brazil has made 9% of the total crude oil shipments to the Jewish nation, besides sending a fuel tanker to the country in April this year.
The OCI analysis highlighted the involvement of corporations in supplying fuel to Israel since the ruling. It found that six major international fossil fuel companies—BP, Chevron, Eni, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies—could be responsible for 35% of the crude oil sent to Israel since October.
(The author of this article is a Defence, Aerospace & Political Analyst based in Bengaluru. He is also Director of ADD Engineering Components, India, Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of ADD Engineering GmbH, Germany. You can reach him at: [email protected])