Top UN court says Israel must allow UN relief agency to supply aid to Gaza
THE HAGUE Netherlands AP The International Court of Justice explained on Wednesday that Israel must allow the U N aid agency in Gaza known as UNRWA to provide humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian territory The Hague-based court was demanded late last year by the U N General Assembly to determine Israel s legal obligations after the country passed laws effectively banning the agency the main provider of aid to Gaza from operating there Israel is under the obligation to agree to and facilitate relief schemes provided by the United Nations and its entities including UNRWA ICJ President Yuji Iwasawa commented Israel has not allowed UNRWA to bring in its supplies since March But the agency continues to operate in Gaza running vitality centers mobile biological teams sanitation services and school classes for children It says it has trucks of supplies waiting to get in The commissioner-general of UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini revealed in a message on X that he welcomed the unambiguous ruling by the International Court of Justice nowadays With huge amounts of food other life saving supplies on standby in Egypt Jordan UNRWA has the tools expertise to forthwith scale up the humanitarian response in Gaza help alleviate the suffering of the civilian population he added Ceasefire to consider The advisory opinion from the World Court comes as a fragile U S -brokered Gaza ceasefire agreement which took effect on Oct continues to hold Israel has denied it has violated international law saying the court s proceedings are biased and the country didn t attend hearings in April However Israel provided a -page written submission for the court to consider In a written declaration the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the opinion and announced Israel fully upholds its obligations under International Law It added in a reference to UNRWA that Israel will not cooperate with an organization that is infested with terror events U N Secretary-General Ant nio Guterres called the ruling an critical decision and mentioned he hoped that Israel will abide by it This decision comes at a moment in which we are doing everything we can to boost our humanitarian aid in Gaza Guterres described The Associated Press in Geneva So the impact of this decision is decisive in order for us to be able to do it to the level that is necessary for the tragic situation in which the people of Gaza still is UNRWA ban UNRWA has faced criticism from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies who say the group is deeply infiltrated by Hamas The agency rejects that claim and the ICJ discovered that Israel hadn t substantiated the charges Iwasawa disclosed The court also held that the population of the Gaza Strip had been inadequately supplied and that Israel was required to ensure the basic necessities of the local population are met Representatives of the Palestinians applauded the decision Speaking to reporters after the hearing Palestinian Ambassador to the Netherlands Ammar Hijazi explained it was clear unequivocal and conclusive and left Israel with no pretext no context no excuse to ban UNRWA In its written submission Israel argued that the court should reject the request from the U N General Assembly because it was too similar to other advisory opinions and the judges lacked the fact-finding abilities to make a determination Advisory opinion In an advisory opinion last year the court mentioned that Israel s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories is unlawful and called on it to end and for settlement construction to stop straightaway That ruling fueled moves for unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state Israel condemned the decision saying it failed to address the country s measure concerns Two decades ago the court ruled that Israel s West Bank separation barrier was contrary to international law Israel boycotted those proceedings saying they were politically motivated Advisory opinions carry crucial legal weight but are described as nonbinding as there are no direct penalties for ignoring them Wednesday opinion is separate from the ongoing proceedings initiated by South Africa accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza Israel rejects South Africa s claim and accuses it of providing political cover for Hamas Arrest warrant for Netanyahu Last year another Hague-based tribunal the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant alleging that the pair have used starvation as a method of warfare by restricting humanitarian aid and have intentionally targeted civilians charges that Israeli representatives strongly deny The advisory opinion from the ICJ noted that Israel is not to use starvation of the civilian population as a method of warfare The opinion provides strong legal help for the occurrence against Netanyahu revealed Tom Dannenbaum professor of law at Stanford University The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas surprise attack on southern Israel on Oct which left people mostly civilians dead and taken hostage Israel s retaliatory offensive in the Palestinian territory has killed more than people according to Gaza s Fitness Ministry The ministry s figures which don t distinguish between civilians and combatants are seen as the the bulk reliable by U N agencies and independent experts Israel has disputed them without providing its own toll Associated Press journalists Lee Keath in Cairo and Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed Source
