War in Gaza: Israel ordered by ICJ to let humanitarian aid pass
International Court of Justice judges order Israel to allow emergency humanitarian aid access to Palestinians in Gaza. This decision follows a request from South Africa, which accuses the Jewish state of violating the Genocide Convention. Israel rejects all these accusations, but on January 26, in a first order, the judges warned of a “risk” of genocide.
The International Court of Justice in The Hague, February 21, 2024. © Peter Dejong / AP
By: RFI with AFP
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Israel
must urgently increase the capacity and number of land accesses to
Gaza
, warn the ICJ judges. They order the “
unrestricted and large-scale
” provision of water, food, shelter, clothing, medicine and fuel, reports our correspondent in The Hague,
Stéphanie Maupas
.
The judges recall that according to the UN, to allow the transport of humanitarian aid, military operations should also be suspended. They also note that a
resolution was indeed adopted by the Security Council
three days ago, even if it has still not been implemented. The judges therefore, in essence, order Israel to prevent the ongoing famine in Gaza.
A famine which is “
settling in
”
, write the magistrates in their 16-page order.
While humanitarian aid by land, strictly controlled by Israel, arrives in trickles, several countries parachute food daily, especially in the north of the Gaza Strip where the situation is particularly desperate. According to the UN agency for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (Ocha), only 3% of the aid entering the Palestinian territory between March 18 and 24 reached the north. Despite the "
enormous needs", "hostilities and obstacles to access (to aid) continue to undermine efforts to deliver vital aid to civilians
" in the Gaza Strip, OCHA deplored Thursday .
South Africa had asked judges to force the 153 states party to the Genocide Convention not to support the war led by Israel. Pretoria implicitly demanded an arms embargo. But the justices clarified that they do not have the authority to issue orders against states that are not covered by the current proceedings. They further note that since their first orders on January 26, more than 6,600 Gazans have died and 11,000 injured.
Also read: Gaza: “Some died before our eyes, sometimes because all that was missing was a simple medical tool”
Israeli operations that continue every day
Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu
reaffirmed Thursday his determination to launch a ground offensive in Rafah, at the southern tip of the Palestinian territory, which he considers to be the last major bastion of Hamas and where 1.5 million Palestinians are crowded together. the vast majority displaced by the hostilities. “
We hold the north of the Gaza Strip as well as Khan Younes (south). We have cut the Gaza Strip in two and we are preparing to enter Rafah
,” he told families of soldiers held hostage in the Palestinian territory.
The United States, Israel's main ally which fears the human toll of such an operation, recently requested the sending of an Israeli delegation to Washington to discuss this project. But Israel, furious after the United States' abstention which allowed the recent adoption of a UN resolution calling for an "
immediate ceasefire
" in Gaza, canceled the visit. On Wednesday, however, a senior US official said Israel had indicated it would like to find "
a new date to hold the meeting
" on Rafah.
On the ground, fighting and bombings saw no respite. Early Thursday, the Hamas health ministry reported at least 66 deaths in the Gaza Strip overnight, including in Israeli airstrikes. This toll brings to 32,552 the number of people killed in the Gaza Strip, mainly women and children, since the start of Israeli reprisals against Hamas, according to the ministry.
The Israeli army, which accuses Hamas fighters of hiding in hospitals, continues its operations in the al-Chifa hospital complex in the northern Gaza City, saying it has "
eliminated around 200 terrorists
" in the area since on March 18. Israeli troops “
evacuated civilians, patients and medical teams to alternative medical facilities
,” assures the army.
In Khan Younes, in the south of the Gaza Strip, soldiers are carrying out operations in the area of Nasser and al-Amal hospitals, approximately one kilometer apart. The Israeli army said Thursday it had killed dozens of fighters in the al-Amal area.
Also read: “I don’t want to go back to Gaza”: in East Jerusalem, sick children threatened with expulsion
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Gaza: “Some died before our eyes, sometimes because all that was missing was a simple medical tool”