Global oil industry is fueling war on Gaza

According to research, some of the world’s most successful fossil fuel firms, as well as US taxpayers, are fueling Israeli planes and tanks that are killing Palestinians in Gaza.

“Israel” relies on imported crude oil and refined products to power its massive fleet of fighter planes, tanks, and other military vehicles.

The study commissioned by the non-profit Oil Change International and observed by The Guardian indicates that the occupation relied heavily on fossil fuels from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Brazil, Gabon, and the United States since the war began.

According to Data Desk, a UK-based IT consultancy organization that studies the fossil fuel market, the major oil firms enabling fuel deliveries include BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, and TotalEnergies.

Since October, the occupation received 3 US tankers carrying JP8 fuel. Although one shipment departed before October 7, one left after more than 16,000 Palestinians had been killed on December 6, while the third left in February, two weeks following the International Court of Justice’s interim finding that “Israel” may be committing genocide.

David Boyd, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights and the environment, stated that countries and companies supplying the occupation are “contributing to horrible human rights violations and may be complicit in genocide.”

Allie Rosenbluth, the US program manager at Oil Change International, called for the US to be held particularly accountable since it fuels the ongoing genocide “on top of over a hundred other weapons sales.”

Apart from US jet fuel, almost all other exports of refined petroleum products to “Israel” have ceased since October 2023, possibly reflecting the larger Red Sea crisis.

In total, more than 1,440 kilotonnes (kt) of crude oil from Azerbaijan are believed to have been shipped to “Israel” since October 2023, while two cargoes of Brazilian oil totaling 260kt have been delivered since the IOF invaded Gaza.

Although Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has harshly criticized the occupation and called its bombardment of Gaza a genocide, he has yet to issue a ban on oil exports.

The data also suggest that four shipments carrying more than 120kt of VGO departed Russia for “Israel” following the ICJ ruling.

Mahmoud Nawajaa, general coordinator of the Palestinian BDS (boycott, divest, sanction) National Committee, expressed that BDS will “expose and target” complicit states mentioned in the report, adding that they are “directly complicit in supporting its ongoing genocide. We shall never forgive them for that.”

A new campaign in the United Kingdom has been started to encourage citizens and businesses to stop paying taxes for the government’s support in “Israel’s” genocide in Gaza, which has now killed over 31,000 Palestinians.

The “No Tax for Genocide” campaign was started in the UK on Thursday to persuade citizens and companies to cease paying taxes, accusing London of assisting “Israel” in its horrific aggression on Palestine.

The campaign’s organizers contend that under both international and domestic law, British individuals risk being implicated in genocide in Gaza by paying taxes, and hence have a legal right not to pay as long as the British government supports the Israeli occupation.

Ashish Prashar, the campaign’s co-founder and spokesperson, told The Telegraph there are several legal duties, including the 1945 UN Charter, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and the Terrorism Act of 2000, that give a legal foundation for “tax resistance”.

“Taxpayers are committing a crime when they pay tax. This is an opportunity for people not to be complicit and demand an immediate ceasefire,” he argued.

“They’re using the money you have to veto ceasefires, to continue these atrocities, to provide political cover. You’ve elected these individuals, you fund their ability to do their jobs, you’re culpable. As the British public, do you want to be culpable?” he said in a statement.

Source: Al Mayadeen