New analysis links international oil shipments to Israel with potential legal risks over Gaza campaign
A report published by Oil Change International and released at the UN climate summit in Brazil says that 25 countries were responsible for 323 shipments of crude and refined petroleum products to Israel between 1 November 2023 and 1 October 2025, totaling 21.2 million tonnes.
Key findings: Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan supplied the bulk of crude oil, together accounting for roughly 70% of crude shipments in the period studied. For refined fuels, Russia, Greece and the United States were the leading suppliers. The US was identified as the sole supplier of JP-8, a jet-fuel blend commonly used in military aircraft.
Oil Change International commissioned research firm Data Desk to compile the shipment data underlying the analysis titled "Behind the Barrel." The group argues that the same fossil-fuel system that drives climate change is also enabling military operations in Gaza and warns of potential legal consequences for supplier states.
"States risk becoming complicit in genocide under international law, under the Genocide Convention," Shady Khalil of Oil Change International told reporters when presenting the report.
The analysis comes amid an ongoing international debate about the Gaza conflict, which began in October 2023 after an attack by the Islamist group Hamas that, according to an AFP tally based on official figures, killed 1,221 people in Israel, mostly civilians. Gaza's health ministry reports that Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed more than 69,000 Palestinians; the United Nations has described the ministry's data as reliable.
Although Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire in October 2025 that has largely paused large-scale hostilities, the report notes that violent incidents continue to be reported.
A UN commission has concluded that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled that aspects of Israel's conduct and continued presence in occupied Palestinian territory are unlawful. Legal experts quoted in the report emphasize that states are bound by the ICJ's interim orders to take steps to "prevent and punish genocide." Irene Pietropaoli, a senior fellow in business and human rights at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, warned governments to consider whether military or other assistance to Israel could create legal exposure under the Genocide Convention.
"States must consider that their military or other assistance to Israel's military operations in Gaza may put them at risk of being complicit in genocide under the Genocide Convention," Irene Pietropaoli said.
The report also addresses the question of civilian versus military use of fuels. Ana Sanchez Mera, coordinator for the Global Energy Embargo for Palestine, argued that fuels and energy infrastructure form a single interconnected system that supports occupation, noting for example that Israel's electricity grid—partly coal-fired—serves both Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
In response to the conflict, some countries have taken or announced measures: in August 2024, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Colombia had suspended coal exports to Israel. Official trade records indicate Brazil last shipped oil directly to Israel in March 2024, although the head of the Rio de Janeiro Oil Workers Union has suggested some shipments may have been rerouted via Italy.
Context and caveats: The report bases its claims on shipment records and commissioned analysis; legal conclusions about complicity and genocide rest on international legal determinations and are subject to ongoing political and judicial processes. The casualty figures cited come from official tallies and Gaza's health ministry, the latter of which the UN has characterized as reliable.
Sources: Oil Change International ("Behind the Barrel"), Data Desk, AFP, Gaza health ministry, United Nations, International Court of Justice, British Institute of International and Comparative Law.
