World Court says Israel must allow aid into Gaza Strip
The International Court of Justice, the highest legal body of the United Nations, issued an advisory opinion stating that Israel is obliged to ensure that the basic needs of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip are met.
The 11-judge panel added that Israel should support U.N. aid efforts in the Gaza Strip as well as aid efforts it provides to U.N. agencies, including UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
“As an occupying power, Israel is obliged to provide the basic needs of the local population, including the materials necessary for their survival,” said the presiding judge, Yuji Iwasawa. he said.
He added that basic needs include food, water, shelter, fuel and medical services.
The advisory opinions of the ICJ, also known as the World Court, carry legal and political weight but are not binding and the court has no enforcement authority.
The opinion, requested by the UN General Assembly in December, clarified the protections states must provide to UN staff and said it was expected to have implications beyond the Gaza Strip conflict.
In a post on X, Israel’s foreign ministry said it categorically rejected the court’s findings and added that “Israel has fully complied with its obligations under international law.”
Israel banned UNRWA from operating in the Gaza Strip last year, claiming that some of its employees were members of the Hamas militant group or other associations affiliated with it.
The foreign ministry said the United Nations had not yet fully investigated the scope of Hamas’ involvement in UNRWA and that Israel would not cooperate with “an organization rife with terrorist activities.”
ICJ judges concluded on Wednesday that Israel had failed to prove its allegations that a significant number of UNRWA employees were members of Hamas.
In April this year, United Nations lawyers and Palestinian representatives at the ICJ accused Israel of violating international law by denying aid entry to the Gaza Strip between March and May; During this period, Israel completely cut off all goods while accusing Hamas fighters of stealing aid.
Some humanitarian aid has since been allowed in, but UN officials say it is nowhere near what is needed to alleviate the humanitarian disaster that has crossed the famine threshold.
A ceasefire reached this month requires Israel to accept 600 trucks of aid a day, but the UN says far less has arrived so far.
The ICJ’s opinion emphasized that Gazans were not provided with sufficient supplies and that Israel could not use starvation as a weapon of war.
Paul Reichler, a lawyer acting on behalf of the Palestinians, said the findings meant Israel had failed to comply with its international law obligations.
“On the one hand, the court found that starvation as a method of warfare was illegal, and on the other hand, the court found that Israel deliberately prevented food from reaching the civilian population of Gaza,” he said.
Serving millions of Palestinians by running schools and distributing aid, UNRWA employs more than 30,000 people.
The UN announced in August last year that nine UNRWA staff may have been involved in Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 and were fired.
Israel says another UNRWA worker killed in the Gaza Strip in October 2024 was also a Hamas commander.
