Foreign oil continues to flow into Israel despite repeated warnings from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that exporters could face charges of "complicity in genocide" for continuing to supply the Jewish state with the lifeblood powering its war in Gaza.
Back in January, the ICJ ordered Israel to cease all genocidal acts in Gaza following an investigation into alleged war crimes. It also warned Israel's allies not to supply Israel with the fuel needed to continue those genocidal acts, though not everyone listened.
Azerbaijan, Israel's primary supplier of oil, has not stopped sending the gas Israel needs, nor have Italy, Albania and Greece. African countries like Gabon, Nigeria and Congo-Brazzaville are also now sending fuel to Israel in defiance of the ICJ's warnings.
Many of these countries are also in violation of the Genocide and Geneva Conventions, which makes this a matter of international law. Israel absolutely requires all this imported oil to power its fighter jets, tanks and military vehicles – without it, there would be no war. The bulldozers that Israel uses to raze Palestinian homes in the West Bank are also powered by imported oil.
(Related: An independent United Nations commission says that both Israel and Hamas are guilty of committing war crimes.)
80% of U.S. fuel exports to Israel occurred after ICJ ruling
New research from the nonprofit group Oil Change International (OCI) tracked 65 oil and fuel shipments that were made to Israel between Oct. 21, 2023 and July 12, 2024. Collectively, the aforementioned countries supplied 4.1 million tons of crude oil to Israel since the start of the war in Gaza.
Almost half of that 4.1 million tons of oil was shipped after the ICJ issued its ruling back in January ordering Israel to stop committing war crimes in Gaza. Every country still sending oil to Israel knows full well that it faces "complicity in genocide" charges, but has chosen to do so anyway.
The ICJ's advisory council issued an opinion stating that because of Israel's actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, all states are "under an obligation not to render aid or assistance" to Israel until the genocide stops.
The United States is another major supplier of jet fuel, diesel and other refined petroleum products to Israel. Nearly 80 percent of all shipments of oil from the U.S. to Israel since the start of the war occurred after the ICJ ruling.
The president of Brazil, which is responsible for about nine percent of the crude oil shipments to Israel that have occurred since October 7, remains sharply critical of Israel's actions. He wants a ceasefire and could potentially force one by imposing an oil embargo.
As for the oil industry, OCI's analysis determined that the following six international oil companies are responsible for around 35 percent of the crude oil supplied to Israel since October 7: BP, Chevron, Eni, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies.
Investor-owned and private oil companies collectively supplied 66 percent of Israel's oil since October 7, this representing a much larger amount than the total supplied by major international oil companies.
Most of the U.S.-supplied JP8 Jet Fuel going to Israel is coming out of the Valero refinery in Corpus Christi, Tex. Overseas Santorini, one of the key tankers involved in supplying U.S. jet fuel to Israel, recently docked in Israel's Ashkelon port, sparking protests.
"This updated analysis highlights the ongoing complicity of these countries and companies," OCI says.
"As more and more Palestinians are killed in bombings and pressure intensifies on global leaders, including U.S. presidential candidates, to end the genocide, these suppliers continue to enable the violence."
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