ICJ rebukes Israel over its Gaza aid restrictions during war

The Hague [Netherlands], October 23 : The International Court of Justice, the UN's top court, issued a landmark opinion on Wednesday (local time) rebuking Israel over its Gaza aid restrictions during the war, CNN reported.

ICJ ruled that Israel, as an occupying power, is obligated to work with UN agencies to facilitate humanitarian aid in Gaza. This opinion is a significant rebuke of Israel's blockade imposed on the Palestinian enclave earlier this year.

The ICJ also said that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has not violated impartiality rules, and therefore should be supported in its relief efforts.

According to CNN, the opinion was requested by the UN General Assembly in December of last year, after Israel had passed laws banning the UNRWA, curtailing its ability to deliver aid in the region.

"The occupying power may never invoke reasons of security to justify the general suspension of all humanitarian activities in occupied territory," said Judge Iwasawa Yuji of the ICJ while delivering the opinion.

"After examining the evidence, the court finds that the local population in the Gaza Strip has been inadequately supplied," he added.

However, the advisory opinion given is non-binding, but is still expected to pressure Israel in cooperating with aid agencies, CNN mentioned.

Notably, Israel has criticised the opinion, with the country's UN ambassador, Danny Danon, saying that the opinion is "shameful". Israeli officials have also accused the court of being weaponised against Israel.

"They are blaming Israel for not cooperating with UN organs ... They should be blaming themselves. Those organs became breeding grounds for terrorists," said Danon.

Israel has accused UNRWA of having multiple employees affiliated with Hamas. UNRWA has repeatedly denied the accusations, rejecting the "blanket description" of the whole institution as being infiltrated by Hamas, CNN reported.

A UN investigation found that nine employees from UNWRA's 13,000 staff in Gaza "may have" been involved in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks.

The ICJ has rejected Israel's assertions, saying that the country has not substantiated the allegations.

"The court concludes that in the present circumstances, the United Nations, acting through UNRWA, has been an indispensable provider of humanitarian relief in the Gaza Strip," the judge said, while also criticising the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has been said to be a replacement for UNRWA's efforts.

"The court recalls Israel's obligation not to use starvation of the civilian population as a method of warfare as an occupying power," the judge added.

In July 2024, the ICJ said that Israel's presence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is illegal, in an unprecedented move that called on Israel to end its decades-long occupation of territories.

The opinion listed a bunch of Israeli practices, which the ICJ said violated international law, including confiscating land, building Israeli settlements in the territories, and depriving Palestinians of natural resources and the right to self-determination.

The ICJ also issued a series of emergency measures related to Gaza in 2024, including ordering Israel to immediately halt its controversial military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, classifying the humanitarian situation there as "disastrous."

The ICJ case on genocide by Israel is expected to last several years. It comes amid an independent UN inquiry's conclusion in September that found Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, echoing the findings of other genocide experts and human rights groups.

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