A top UN tribunal orders medical aid and food to enter Gaza

The United Nations (UN) highest court has ordered Israel to ensure free access of humanitarian aid to Gaza to avoid famine in the region.

In a unanimous ruling, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), known as the Hague Court, said Israel must act “without delay” to enable “the provision… of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance “.

The decision came after warnings that a major famine could break out in Gaza within weeks.

Israel called accusations of blocking the entry of humanitarian aid “totally unfounded.”

In response to the court order, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said it will continue “to promote new initiatives and expand existing ones” to enable a continued flow of aid to Gaza “by land, air and sea,” working with the United Nations. Unite and others.

And he declared that Hamas is responsible for the situation in Gaza and the outbreak of the war.

The International Court of Justice’s decision came after South Africa asked the court to enforce an order issued to Israel in January to take all measures to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza.

Although ICJ decisions are legally binding, the court has no power to enforce them.

Last week, a report from a respected international network known as the Integrated Food Safety Phase Classification (IPC), run by the World Food Program (WFP) and others, warned of a “catastrophic” situation developing.

And he said all 2.2 million people in Gaza “face high levels of severe food insecurity” – and the prediction is that a major wave of famine will be unleashed in the territory’s north before the end of May.

In its ruling, the ICJ said that Gaza “is no longer exposed only to the risk of famine: according to the court, “famine is coming” and, according to UN observers, 31 people, including 27 children, were already dying of malnutrition and dehydration.

It also cited comments by Volker Türk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, who said last week that the famine is “the result of extensive Israeli restrictions on the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid and goods, of the displacement of the majority of the population, as well as the destruction of crucial civilian infrastructure.”

The court said Israel must “take all necessary and effective measures to ensure, without delay, in full cooperation with the United Nations, the free provision in large quantities… of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance.”

Among the most needed goods are food, water, electricity, fuel, shelter and clothing, as well as hygiene products and medical supplies, he said.

The ruling also emphasizes that Israel must ensure that “its army does not commit acts that constitute a violation of any of the rights of Palestinians in Gaza” under the Genocide Convention.

Over the past few months, we have repeatedly seen long queues of humanitarian aid trucks forming as the vehicles waited to enter Gaza from Egypt. Israel is accused of subjecting deliveries to complex and arbitrary controls.

In a document filed last week, Israel asked the ICJ not to issue the recent ruling, saying South Africa’s allegations were “totally devoid of factual and legal basis” and “morally repugnant.”

He also dismissed the broader case opened against him under the Genocide Convention, calling it “baseless.”

Israel has also said Hamas takes much of the humanitarian aid entering Gaza – and accused the UN of not distributing what remains to the civilian population.

The current conflict began after the October 7 attacks, in which Hamas-led gunmen crossed the border into Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.

Of the people taken hostage, around 130 are missing, of which at least 34 are presumed dead.

Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry says Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 32,552 people. Earlier this month, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that of those killed, more than 25,000 were women and children.