“He who owns the oil will own the world, for he will rule the sea by means of the heavy oils, the air by means of the ultra-refined oils, and the land by means of gasoline and the illuminating oils,” said French writer and politician, Henri Berenger in 1921.
Fuel has emerged again as among the most contested issues in the war between Israel and Gaza — a conflict that most recently erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists made a surprise, devastating assault inside the Israeli state. Israel has responded with airstrikes and expanding ground operations on the Gaza strip and a complete shutdown of electricity and internet communications.
“Without fuel, there will be no water, no functioning hospitals and bakeries,” the agency’s commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini, has continued to warn over days and days of pleas. “Without fuel, aid will not reach those in desperate need.”
The problem with fuel is that it is a “dual use” item, meaning its purposes can be both for peace or war depending on the end user — and its purpose is often in the eyes of the beholder. Many countries carefully restrict goods that have both civilian and military purposes.
So, how does that apply to the current conflict?
“Palestinian militants use fuel to propel the rockets they manufacture and fire into Israel, as well as for vehicles the fighters drive during operations,” the Israelis claim, adding that Hamas often steals deliveries of fuel for its own use. On the other side, “It keeps vital technology and machines working, from sanitation systems to cellphones to ambulances ferrying the wounded.”
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the fuel shortage is affecting the most critical functions of the hospitals in Gaza, including dialysis machines and oxygen deliveries.
In his recent testimony to Congress, asking for national security foreign assistance, Secretary of State Antony Blinken parsed his language carefully in defining why more American dollars would help alleviate the situation for innocent civilians in Gaza and other conflict zones like Ukraine.
“This funding will enable us to tackle grave humanitarian needs created by autocrats and terrorists, as well as by conflict and natural disasters in Ukraine, in Gaza, in Sudan, in Armenia, and other places around the world. Food, water, medicine, other essential humanitarian assistance resilience must be able to flow into Gaza.”
To survive, human beings need food and water. But when did fuel enter the basic pyramid?
The first known use of fuel was the combustion of firewood nearly 2 million years ago. Throughout most of human history, only fuels derived from plants or animal fat were used by humans. Charcoal, a wood derivative, has been used since at least 6,000 BCE for melting metals.
We know that all life forms, from microorganisms to human beings, depend upon and utilize fuel for energy. Additionally, humans employ various techniques to convert one form of energy into another, producing usable energy for purposes that go far beyond the basic needs of a human body. The application of energy released from fuel can do everything from cooking food to powering weapons.
Human beings build and destroy. We thrive and we perish. As the philosopher John Stuart Mill wrote in 1869, “It is questionable if all the mechanical inventions yet made have lightened the day’s toil of any human being.”
Tara D. Sonenshine is the Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.