ICJ orders Israel to allow aid into Gaza, says it breached international law

Israel, that violated the ceasefire agreements by restricting aid supply into Gaza and bombing civilians who were returning home, has been asked by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to allow humanitarian assistance into the besieged enclave, with the court finding that Israel has continuously breached international law and failed in its obligations as an occupying power while slamming its decision to cut ties with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa).

In a strongly worded advisory opinion delivered at The Hague, the ICJ ruled that Israel’s restrictions on aid and its severance of cooperation with UN agencies, including UNRWA, have violated its duties under the UN Charter and the Geneva Conventions.

The court held that Israel had not produced sufficient evidence to justify the claim that UNRWA was not a neutral organisation and reaffirmed that the agency formed the backbone of all humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza, requiring Israel to cooperate in good faith.

The judges determined that Israel’s actions amounted to impeding humanitarian aid and breaching the immunities granted to UN staff, premises and entities, many of which have been bombed since hostilities intensified.

The ruling stated that these immunities continue to apply during times of conflict, and that the inviolability of schools, hospitals and other UNRWA facilities must be respected. The court emphasised that only the UN itself could decide whether its control over such premises had been lost.

The advisory opinion, supported by ten of the eleven judges, found that Israel had used starvation as a method of warfare, citing evidence that all UN aid was blocked from entering Gaza between March and May. The ICJ rejected Israel’s justification that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an aid agency it had created, was an adequate alternative, declaring that the measure did not absolve it of responsibility. The court observed that more than 2,100 Palestinians had been killed near aid distribution points and that famine had been declared in parts of Gaza.

The ICJ further ruled that mass displacement or deportation of populations in occupied territories is prohibited under international law, stressing that Israel had no right to block aid or restrict UN presence to an extent that rendered conditions unlivable.

The court also found that two laws passed by Israel’s Knesset in October to end all cooperation with UNRWA were unlawful, as they prevented the organisation from fulfilling its humanitarian mandate. It noted that 360 UNRWA staff members had been killed during the conflict.

ICJ President Yuji Iwasawa declared that Israel must allow the International Committee of the Red Cross access to Palestinian prisoners held in its custody and facilitate the delivery and equitable distribution of humanitarian aid. Norway, which had initiated the proceedings at the UN, indicated that it would move a resolution in the General Assembly based on the court’s findings.

Despite the court’s ruling, Israel’s foreign ministry dismissed the conclusions, insisting it had adhered to its international obligations.