In an effort to prevent famine, Israel has been mandated by the UN High Court to permit the unrestricted entry of aid into Gaza.
Israel must take action “without delay” to permit the “supply… of urgently required basic services and humanitarian assistance,” the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said in a majority ruling.
This comes after alerts that Gaza could face starvation in a few weeks.
Allegations that Israel is obstructing aid have been deemed “wholly false.”
In response to the court decision, the Israeli foreign ministry stated that it was collaborating with the UN and others “to promote new initiatives and expand current ones” in order to enable a constant flow of supplies into Gaza “by land, air, and sea.”
It said that Hamas was to blame for both the war’s beginning and the state of affairs in Gaza.
The Hague court’s most recent decision was made in response to a request from South Africa to support an injunction that required Israel to take all necessary precautions to stop acts of genocide in Gaza in January.
South Africa claimed that as a signatory to the 1948 Genocide Convention of the United Nations, it was obliged to take action to avoid genocide.
The African National Congress (ANC), which is in power, has a long history of supporting the Palestinian cause, and the nation has been strongly critical of Israel’s military action in Gaza.
While the ICJ’s orders are legally enforceable, the court is unable to carry them out. The only UN body is the Security Council, which can introduce measures to try to ensure compliance.
The International Court of Justice’s decision follows the publication last week of a report from the World Food Programme and its partners’ Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Global Initiative, which warned that a “catastrophic” situation was emerging in Gaza.
It stated that famine was expected to strike the northern part of the territory before the end of May and that all 2.2 million residents of Gaza were “suffering high levels of acute food insecurity.”
When there is a significant lack of food in a nation, the population is at risk of starvation, acute undernourishment, or even death. This is known as famine.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that hunger is “setting in” in Gaza and that, per UN observers, 31 people, including 27 children, had already died of malnutrition and dehydration.
The International Criminal Court (ICJ) has ruled that Israel must take all necessary measures to ensure the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to the Gazan population.
The most needed aid includes food, water, electricity, fuel, shelter, clothing, hygiene products, and medical supplies. The current conflict began after the October 7 attack, which killed around 1,200 people and took over 250 others hostage. Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 32,623 people, with more than 25,000 being women and children.
The UN Security Council has called for an immediate ceasefire, but Israel has vowed to continue its mission to eliminate Hamas. Israel’s military has launched another raid on al-Shifa hospital, which is the largest in Gaza, and has also launched repeated Israeli air strikes on Hamas targets throughout Gaza. Israel has threatened to launch an offensive in the southern city of Rafah, where over 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering.
(BBC)
