Legal experts warn ICJ UNRWA ruling poses danger to US interests
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Leading experts on the United Nations and international law on Wednesday criticized the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its non-binding ruling that Israel cooperated with a scandal-ridden UN aid agency whose funding the United States halted over its support for Hamas terrorists.
ICJ President Yuji Iwasawa said the Jewish state “is under an obligation to accept and facilitate assistance programs provided by the United Nations and its agencies, including UNRWA.”
THE INFORMATION USED TO EXPLAIN THE UN AGENCY’S DEEP TIES WITH HAMAS IN GAZA IS REVEALED IN THE FILE.
Individuals identified as combatants by the IDF appear to be carrying firearms and interacting with UN-branded vehicles. (IDF)
“This opinion, crucially, does not have a decision of the case or any legal authority,” Eugene Kontorovich, professor and director of the Center for Middle East International Law at George Mason University Scalia School of Law, told Fox News Digital.
He warned that the decision was also dangerous for US interests. “The ICJ claims to have “moral authority,” but its own supply must be high. The Court concluded that UNRWA is a neutral, legitimate aid agency, as the U.S. government has acknowledged, even though its members participated in Hamas’ October 7 invasion and its facilities and organization were widely infiltrated by Hamas. It creates new legal rules from scratch. This is a real danger for the United States, which has repeatedly been on the losing side. Advisory of a Politicized Court Their views.”
Muhammad Abu Itiwi during the October 7 Massacre. The Hamas Nukhba commander was involved in the killing and kidnapping of Israeli civilians on October 7 and, according to the IDF, was also deployed by UNRWA. (IDF Spokesperson Unit)
Kontorovich, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, added: “Based on this opinion, the ICJ may conclude that the United States should continue to work with UN agencies it wants to leave or boycott, or provide aid to terrorist groups working to kill Americans. The United States should renounce all agreements that give the ICJ jurisdiction and recall its judge from the court.”
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The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote to “Today’s ICJ advisory opinion should have highlighted the terrorist activities in which UNRWA was involved: UNRWA employees were directly involved in the October 7 massacre and continue to assist Hamas’ terrorist operations – all under the auspices of the United Nations.”
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called on Israel to comply with the ICJ’s decision. In response to Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon calling the ICJ decision a “shameful decision”, a spokesman for Guterres told reporters: “We trust that the Government of Israel will fulfill its legal obligations. I will not respond to the rhetoric of this or that official.”
Anne Bayefsky, Director of the Touro Institute for Human Rights and the Holocaust, told Fox News Digital: “The ICJ, ostentatiously called the ‘World Court,’ is a creature of the United Nations, an institution rife with anti-Semitism and prejudice against the Jewish state.
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“So in this case, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution declaring Israel guilty and then ‘asked’ the Court to confirm the predetermined conclusion, to which the Court answered ‘yes’.
Fox News Digital reported Tuesday that the Hamas-affiliated United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) should play no role in the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip because it employs Hamas terrorists, according to Middle East experts.
