The International Court of Justice, the highest court of the United Nations, issued a legal opinion this Wednesday in which it stated that Israelas the occupying power, is obliged to work with UN agencies to facilitate humanitarian aid in Gaza. The measure is against the blockade imposed on the Palestinian enclave earlier this year.
The Court also noted in its advisory opinion that the United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency (UNRWA)the main UN agency serving Palestinian refugees, did not violate impartiality standards. Thus, he demanded that Israel support the agency’s assistance work.
The opinion was requested by the UN General Assembly in December, after Israel passed laws prohibiting UNRWA from operating in the country, CNN reported.
International Court of Justice urges Israel to facilitate aid operations in Gaza
“The occupying power can never invoke security reasons to justify the general suspension of all humanitarian activities in occupied territory,” the judge said. Iwasawa Yuji in presenting the opinion, which also establishes Israel’s obligation to ensure the basic needs of civilians in Gaza.
“After examining the evidence, the court concludes that the local population in Gaza has been insufficiently supplied,” he added. The advisory opinion – intended to address Israel’s obligations to the UN, aid organizations and third states in the occupied West Bank and Gaza – is non-binding.
However, it does have political weight and pressure on Israel expected to increase to cooperate with the UN and other aid agencies. The Israeli Embassy to the UN criticized the court’s opinion as “shameful” and accused UNRWA of having more than a thousand employees affiliated with Hamas and of teaching hatred against Israel in its schools.
UNRWA repeatedly denied the allegations, stating that there is no basis for “an overview” of the entire institution as infiltrated by Hamas.
“The court concludes that, in the current circumstances, the United Nations, acting through UNRWA, has been a indispensable provider of humanitarian aid in Gaza“said the judge, also criticizing the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which Israel presented as a replacement for UNRWA.
“The court recalls Israel’s obligation not to use the starvation of the civilian population as a method of war as an occupying power,” he added.
They warn that the flow of food to Gaza remains well below objectives
He World Food Program (WFP) dependent on the UN He said this Tuesday that supplies to Loop are increasing after the ceasefire mediated by USAbut They remain well below their daily target of 2,000 tons.
This is because there are only two border crossings open and none to the north of the famine-affected enclave. According to the PMAnow they enter the Gaza Strip about 750 tons of food a daybut this figure remains far below the scale of needs after two years of conflict between Israel and Hamas.
“In order to reach this scale, we have to use all border crossings at this time,” said WFP spokesperson Abeer Etefa, at a press conference held in Geneva, indicated Reuters.
Source: Ambito
