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Debunking the Gaza Oil Myth
The claim that Israel’s military actions in Gaza are motivated by a desire to seize Palestinian oil and gas resources has gained traction since October 2023. Reports and op-eds have been published by Al Jazeera, TRT World, and the Middle East Eye, with headlines such as “Israel’s Genocidal War on Gaza Is Also About Oil and Gas.” Various environmental NGOs have followed their lead, claiming that “this genocide is about oil.” These claims were further echoed by prominent anti-Israeli social media influencers such as Richard Medhurst and Jake Shields, who claimed that “massive amounts of oil have been discovered off of Gaza. After the genocide is completed, it will be rightfully Israel’s oil.” Even the poetry editor of the New York Times Magazine claimed that Israel’s war in Gaza was about “the deadly profit of oil interests” in her November 2023 resignation letter from the paper.
None of these claims has any basis in fact. Gaza does not have any known oil reserves. There are also no known assessments regarding potential oil in Gaza that is waiting to be explored. What Gaza does have is a small, undeveloped offshore natural gas field named “Gaza Marine.” The field was discovered in 2000, but was deemed too small to be commercially viable at the time. The field is estimated to contain only 30 BCM of natural gas, which is a small fraction of the more than 1,000 BCM of natural gas contained in Israel’s own territorial waters (in the Tamar, Leviathan, and Karish/Tanin fields). The idea that Israel would go to war over such a marginal gas field is absurd.
The primary source behind this disinformation campaign about Gaza’s alleged oil reserves is a UN body. Specifically, most of the accusations against Israel can be traced to a 2019 report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) entitled “The Economic Costs of the Israeli Occupation for the Palestinian People: The Unrealized Oil and Natural Gas Potential.” The report, written by Atif Kubursi, Professor Emeritus of Economics at McMaster University in Canada, states that “the Occupied Palestinian Territory lies above sizeable reservoirs of oil and natural gas wealth,” to the tune of “tens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars.” It also claims that there are $524 billion worth of energy reserves in the Levant Basin, a bounty that could be shared among the different parties in the region if not for Israel’s “occupation of the Palestinian people.”
Critics of Israel have latched onto the $524 billion figure from the UNCTAD report to argue that Israel’s war in Gaza is driven by a desire to seize its energy assets. However, the report did not attribute these resources to Gaza or the West Bank but to the entire Levant Basin, which includes Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Cyprus. The report estimates that Palestinians have lost approximately $2.57 billion in potential revenue from Gaza Marine due to their inability to develop the field. This revenue could, however, be recouped once the field is developed. Egypt was poised to develop the field and share the revenue with the Palestinian Authority, with the approval of the Israeli government, if not for the current war.
In addition, the report points to the Meged oil field – located primarily within Area C of the West Bank – as another possible source of revenue for Palestinians. However, the report deliberately inflates the significance of the field by relying on outdated figures. The report estimates that the field might contain 1.5 billion barrels of oil and have a potential market value of $71 billion, but these figures are based on unsourced PR claims (rather than available geological evidence) that were released prior to commercial production. These assessments have been proven incorrect following repeated attempts to develop the field. Between 2011 and 2016, the field produced only 1 million barrels and shut down due to technical difficulties and dwindling output. The fact that the field has already been proven economically nonviable was ignored in the report, which continued to cite the debunked assessments.
Even under optimal conditions, the Meged field would not produce enough oil to be a central motivator for Israeli military action in the West Bank. This becomes especially clear when considering that a large part of the field is in Israeli territory, so Israel would not have to occupy Area C to access it and produce from it.
The misleading interpretation of the 2019 UNCTAD report could have been dismissed as an innocent mistake, had UNCTAD itself not deliberately presented the findings in such a way. On its website and subsequent press releases, UNCTAD advertised its report with the headline “The unrealized potential of Palestinian oil and gas reserves.” It continued this misrepresentation with the subhead, “Oil and natural gas resources in the occupied Palestinian territory could generate hundreds of billions of dollars for development.” Again, the report does not attribute these numbers to the Palestinian Territories but to the entire Levant Basin, a fact that cannot be inferred from the headline. Moreover, the UNCTAD press release repeats the claim that “Geologists and resource economists have confirmed that the occupied Palestinian territory lies above sizeable reservoirs of oil and natural gas,” a bald assertion that is not substantiated in the report.
The UNCTAD report has also been criticized for inflating additional figures and relying on dubious conspiracy blogs as its sources of data, raising serious doubts about the credibility and intentions of its author. The political newsletter “Twilight of Greed” took a deep dive into the report and discovered false and deliberately misleading arguments. For example, the report frequently cites the works of Michel Chossudovsky, who is known for spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories about how the Jews were behind the 9/11 attacks and who was accused by the US State Department in 2020 of being a proxy for a Russian disinformation campaign. Despite this, the report cites Chossudovsky 11 times, making him the single most-cited author in the entire report. It even prints his false assertion that the Gaza Marine field is secretly connected to Israeli underwater infrastructure and is slowly being depleted.
It is appalling that an official UN body would approve of such a report and then continue to publicize it with false claims about its content. One of the most troublesome aspects of the narrative is how quickly it has spread on social media, bolstered by a broader anti-Israeli and anti-imperialist sentiment. Despite efforts by experts to debunk these myths, they have become entrenched in the discourse surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These claims have been difficult to counter due to the viral nature of social media misinformation. By the time experts began addressing the flaws in the narrative, the theory had gained millions of adherents online.
The ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza is driven by far more complex political, historical, and security concerns than the control of natural gas or oil. Israel’s current and previous wars in Gaza have focused primarily on security threats posed by Hamas and other militant groups, as well as broader territorial and political disputes. The Gaza Marine and Meged fields, while valuable in an economic sense, are not significant enough to drive military action. The spread of the Gaza oil myth reflects the dangers of relying on dubious sources and conspiracy theories to explain complex geopolitical conflicts. These dangers are only worsened when an official UN body knowingly pushes these theories to center stage, permitting reckless ideologues to launder their viewpoints and providing them with unwarranted credibility.
Dr. Elai Rettig is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Studies and a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. He specializes in energy geopolitics and national security.
Lee Wilcox is a California-based writer and editor for the American political and historical newsletter “Twilight of Greed.” He currently studies US History at the University of California, Davis.
A version of this article was originally published by The BESA Center.
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Northwestern University Touts Progress on Addressing Campus Antisemitism Amid Federal Scrutiny

Signs cover the fence at a pro-Palestinian encampment at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. on April 28, 2024. Photo: Max Herman via Reuters Connect.
Northwestern University on Monday touted its progress in addressing the campus antisemitism crisis, issuing a statement containing a checklist of policies it has enacted since being censured by federal lawmakers over its handling of pro-Hamas demonstrations which convulsed its campus during the 2023-2024 academic year.
“The university administration took this criticism to heart and spent much of last summer revising our rules and policies to make our university safe for all of our students, regardless of their religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, or political viewpoint,” the statement said. “Among the updated policies is our Demonstration Policy, which includes new requirements and guidance on how, when, and where members of the community may protest or otherwise engage in expressive activity.”
The university added that it has adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, a reference tool which aids officials in determining what constitutes antisemitism, and begun holding “mandatory antisemitism training” sessions which “all students, faculty, and staff” must attend.
“This included a live training for all new students in September and a 17-minute training module for all enrolled students, produced in collaboration with the Jewish United Fund,” it continued. “Antisemitism trainings will continue as a permanent part of our broader training in civil rights and Title IX.”
Other initiatives rolled out by the university include an Advisory Council to the President on Jewish Life, dinners for Jewish students hosted by administrative officials, and educational events which raise awareness of rising antisemitism in the US and across the world. Additionally, Northwestern said that it imposed disciplinary sanctions against several students and one staff member whose conduct violated the new “Demonstration and/or Display Policies” which regulate peaceful assembly on the campus.
“In closing, although Northwestern has made significant progress in the fight against antisemitism on campus, the university remains vigilant and will continue to do what is necessary to make our campus safe,” the statement concluded. “Importantly, the fight against antisemitism is NOT [sic] a zero-sum game. All members of our communities on campus — all religions, races, national origins, genders, sexual orientations, and political viewpoints — deserve to feel safe and know that our rules will be enforced to protect them against hate, discrimination, harassment, and intimidation. Northwestern is committed to this principle.”
As previously reported by The Algemeiner, Northwestern University struggled for months to correct an impression that it coddled pro-Hamas protesters and acceded to their demands for a boycott of Israel in exchange for an end to their May 2024 encampment.
University president Schill denied during a US congressional hearing held that year that he had capitulated to any demand that fostered a hostile environment, but his critics noted that part of the deal to end the encampment stipulated his establishing a scholarship for Palestinian undergraduates, contacting potential employers of students who caused recent campus disruptions to insist on their being hired, creating a segregated dormitory hall that will be occupied exclusively by students of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) and Muslim descent, and forming a new advisory committee in which anti-Zionists students and faculty may wield an outsized voice.
The status of those concessions, which a law firm representing the civil rights advocacy group StandWithUs described as “outrageous” in July 2024, were not disclosed in Monday’s statement.
Northwestern University is not the only school creating distance between itself and the anti-Zionist movement, a step many colleges have taken in response to US President Donald Trump’s vowing to cut the flow of taxpayer funds supplementing their budgets should they refuse to crackdown down on illegal protests and antisemitism. Following the Trump administration’s cancelling of over $400 million in federals contracts and grants awarded to Columbia University, former interim president Katrina Armstrong proposed a list of reforms the school would agree to undertake — in areas ranging from undergraduate admissions to campus security — to restore the funds.
Armstrong later resigned from her position, saying in a statement which explained the decision that she wishes to return to her role as executive director of the university’s Irving Medical Center, as well as several other positions she holds.
Meanwhile, Harvard University recently fired a librarian whom someone filmed ripping posters of the Bibas children, two babies murdered in captivity by Hamas, off a kiosk in Harvard Yard and denounced him as “hateful.” Additionally, it paused a partnership with a higher education institution located in the West Bank, a move for which prominent members of the Harvard community and federal lawmakers had clamored in a series of public statements. The Trump administration initiated a review of $9 billion in taxpayer funds it receives anyway, prompting interim president Alan Garber to defend Harvard’s handling of the issue.
“For the past fifteen months, we have devoted considerable effort to addressing antisemitism,” Garber said. “We have strengthened our rules and our approach to disciplining those who violate them. We have enhanced training and education on antisemitism across our campus and introduced measures to support our Jewish community and ensure student safety and security.”
Northwestern University is in the Trump administration’s crosshairs too. It is one of 60 universities being investigated by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights over its handling of campus antisemitism, a project that will serve as an early test of the administration’s ability to perform the essential functions of the agency after downsizing its workforce to increase its efficiency.
“The department is deeply disappointed that Jewish students studying on elite US campuses continue to fear for their safety amid the relentless antisemitic eruptions that have severely disrupted campus life for more than a year,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in March. “US colleges and universities benefit from enormous public investments funded by US taxpayers. That support is a privilege, and it is contingent on scrupulous adherence to federal antidiscrimination laws.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Pressure Mounts on UN Members to Block Reappointment of Controversial Anti-Israel Official

Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, attends a side event during the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 26, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
The United Nations is facing growing pressure to block the reappointment of Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, who has an extensive history of using her role to denigrate Israel and seemingly rationalize the terrorist group Hamas’s attacks against the Jewish state.
The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is set to reappoint Albanese for another three-year term on Friday, despite calls from several countries and NGOs urging UN members to oppose her reappointment due to her controversial remarks and alleged pro-Hamas stance.
Since taking on the role of UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories in 2022, Albanese has been at the center of controversy due to what critics, including US and European lawmakers, have described as antisemitic and anti-Israel public remarks.
In the months following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, atrocities, across southern Israel, Albanese accused Israel of perpetrating a “genocide” against the Palestinian people in revenge for the attacks and circulated a widely derided and heavily disputed report alleging that 186,000 people have been killed in Gaza as a result of Israeli actions.
She has also previously made comments about a “Jewish lobby” controlling America and Europe, compared Israel to Nazi Germany, and stated that Hamas’s violence against Israelis — including rape, murder, and kidnapping — needs to be “put in context.”
Last year, the United Nations launched a probe into Albanese for allegedly accepting a trip to Australia funded by pro-Hamas organizations.
In the past, she has also celebrated the anti-Israel protesters rampaging across US college campuses, saying they represent a “revolution” and that they give her “hope.”
On Monday, US Rep. Brian Mast, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, sent a letter to the president of the UNHRC, Ambassador Jürg Lauber, to express his strong opposition to Albanese’s reappointment.
In the letter, Mast claimed that Albanese has failed to act “in an independent capacity with a professional, impartial assessment, and maintain the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.”
“Ms. Albanese unapologetically uses her position as a UN special rapporteur to purvey and attempt to legitimize antisemitic tropes, while serving as a Hamas apologist,” the letter read.
“In her malicious fixation, she has even called for Israel to be removed from the United Nations while likening Israel to apartheid South Africa,” Mast wrote in a letter signed by six fellow lawmakers. “Regrettably, Ms. Albanese’s rhetoric has perverted the very institution and its foundational principles in which she was appointed to serve.”
Governments worldwide, including France, the UK, Germany, Canada, and the Netherlands, have condemned her statements as antisemitic and urged that she not be given another term in her role.
Last month, 42 members of the French Parliament publicly urged the government to oppose Albanese’s reappointment, arguing that it “would send a regrettable signal to victims, human rights defenders, and states committed to credible multilateralism.”
This week, British Labour Member of Parliament David Taylor also objected to Albanese’s reappointment, saying “there is no place for such alleged antisemitism on the international stage.”
“Albanese’s response to the largest antisemitic massacre of the 21st century was to describe it as ‘a response to Israel’s oppression,’” Taylor told the Jewish Chronicle. “She described Israel as being a ‘settler colonial conquest.’”
“Making statements of this nature in a UN capacity is abhorrent and does so much damage to communities already torn apart by horrific violence, going against everything the United Nations stands for,” Taylor said.
Human rights groups and NGOs have also campaigned to prevent the anti-Israel rapporteur from receiving a second term.
UN Watch, a Geneva-based NGO, has organized a petition against her reappointment, which has garnered over 83,000 signatures.
Last month, Maram Stern, executive vice president of the World Jewish Congress, sent a letter to the president of the UNHRC urging him to reject the renewal of Albanese’s mandate, citing what she described as the UN official’s history of anti-Israel animus and antisemitic statements.
“Ms. Albanese has repeatedly made public remarks that propagate harmful antisemitic tropes, question the legitimacy of the State of Israel, and employ rhetoric that undermines the credibility of the Human Rights Council itself,” the letter read. “Her persistent lack of objectivity and failure to uphold a balanced and impartial approach required of her as special rapporteur compromises her credibility as an independent expert.”
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) also urged UN Members to reject Albanese’s second term, saying she “has systematically demonstrated a troubling pattern of conduct and expression that is incompatible with the responsibilities, neutrality, and integrity expected of a UN special rapporteur.”
“Her actions not only betray the victims of terrorism and antisemitism but also are a stain on the credibility of the Human Rights Council itself,” the AJC wrote in a letter.
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Three Jewish Coaches Lead Teams in NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Final Four

Florida Gators head coach Todd Golden and Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl talk before the game as Auburn Tigers take on Florida Gators at Neville Arena in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. Photo: USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters Connect
The men’s 2025 NCAA Tournament Final Four bracket includes four No. 1 seed teams, three of which have Jewish coaches who will lead the way in the two national semifinals taking place on Saturday.
Auburn University Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl has contributed Auburn’s success in the NCAA in part to God and his Jewish faith. He described Israel as the “ancestral homeland for the Jewish people” and called for the release of American-Israeli Edan Alexander from Hamas captivity at a post-game conference last month. He also took the Auburn team on a trip to Israel, where they made stops at the Western Wall and Yad Vashem – The World Holocaust Remembrance Center.
The Tigers will compete on Saturday in the NCAA Tournament Final Four against the Florida Gators whose Jewish coach, Todd Golden, is an Israeli citizen who previously played two years professionally for Maccabi Haifa in Israel.
In 2009, Golden was co-captain of the USA Open Team, coached by Pearl, that won gold at the Maccabiah Games, which is an international multi-sport event for Jewish and Israeli athletes. Golden has been the coach of the Tigers for two seasons, but prior to that he was the assistant coach at Columbia, the head coach at San Francisco, and even worked under Pearl. Golden was director of basketball operations for the Auburn staff for the 2014-15 season and was promoted to assistant coach for the 2015-16 campaign.
Duke and Houston also play each other on Saturday in the Final Four. The head coach of the Duke Blue Devils, Jon Scheyer, also formerly played in Israel and holds Israeli citizenship. He played professionally for Maccabi Tel Aviv from 2011-12. In October 2023, not long after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, Scheyer commented on the conflict and said in part: “My heart breaks for the people in Israel — that have hostages, American lives that are taken, mourning loved ones.” Scheyer is leading Duke to the Final Four in only his third year as head coach.
The Houston Cougars – the fourth men’s team competing in the Final Four – do not have a Jewish coach, but they have a player who was born in Israel and played for Israel’s national youth squad. Guard Emanuel Sharp, who is the son of Derrick Sharp, was part of Israel’s under-16 national basketball team and also played for Maccabi Tel Aviv for over a decade.
This year’s Final Four have a combined record of 135-16. Since seeding began in 1979, this is only the second time in history that all four No. 1 seeds advanced to the Final Four. It previously happened in 2008. Larry Brown was the last Jewish coach to win the NCAA Tournament when he led Kansas to the victory in 1988.
The 2025 NCAA Tournament Final Four begins on Saturday, with two national semifinals taking place at the Alamodome in San Antonio, and ends on Monday with the national championship.
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