In a hearing today at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, representatives from 40 countries will testify on Israel’s decision to ban the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA).
The hearings, which will take place throughout this week, will focus on the question of whether Israel – a signatory to the UN Charter – acted against its commitments in banning UNRWA in November. Israel also blocked aid into Gaza in March, increasing the case’s relevance.
Amal Hijazi, who is representing Palestine to the court, described the dire situation Gazans currently find themselves in, with barely any access to food, water and medicine. He said in his opening remarks that the lack of aid was “supported by the World Court” by default, and the lack of food “targets life itself… [including] by starvation.”
This encompasses Israel’s banning of UNRWA, he said.
Hijazi said that some comments made by several Israeli ministers “debunks the Israeli sham.”
He charged that the killings of UNRWA and other emergency medical staff was “deliberate.”
“These crimes aim to hasten the immediate displacement of the Palestinian people,” he said.
As Palestine is a non-member observer state of the United Nations, it is not party to the Statute of the ICJ. However, in May, it signed a declaration accepting the court’s jurisdiction, opening the doors to the case.
The Foreign Ministry is set to hold its own separate press conference on the matter, and will not participate in the hearings.
In December, the UN’s top court was tasked to form an advisory opinion on Israel’s obligations to facilitate aid to Palestinians that is delivered by states and international groups, including the United Nations. Israel said it would not allow the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza until Hamas releases all 59 remaining hostages.
The resolution adopted in December by 137 of the 193 nations in the UN’s General Assembly called on Israel to comply with its obligations towards the Palestinian population, as it expressed “grave concern” about the dire humanitarian situation.
Israel, the United States and 10 other countries voted against the resolution, while 22 countries abstained.
Trump pushes Netanyahu on Gaza aid
US President Donald Trump on Friday said he had pushed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow food and medicine into the enclave. The US will state its opinion on Wednesday.
UNRWA supplies medical services, food and education to two million Palestinians in Gaza. The organization was created following the Palestinian refugee crisis after the War of Independence in 1948. There are close to 6 million Palestinian refugees across the Middle East today.
Israel has consistently questioned UNRWA’s authenticity, due to findings, dating years back, that violent sentiments against Israel presented as “resistance” have been found in textbooks taught by UNRWA’s teachers. Over the course of the war, IDF troops in Gaza repeatedly found tunnels and weapons in UNRWA schools.
South Africa brought the larger case against Israel for alleged Genocide Convention violations in December, and hearings took place at the court in January. The hearings this week will focus specifically on the claim of starvation and the state of aid into the enclave.
South Africa argued that Israel violated the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and PUnishment of the Crime of Genocide, or the Genocide Convention, by failing to stop it or prosecute public incitement against it, and engaged in it in its acts in Gaza.
Israel has denied these claims, insisting that it sticks to international law and is not using starvation as a method of warfare to enable genocide against the Palestinian people, but rather is fighting Hamas, a terrorist organization deeply embedded in civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.
The hearings this week will focus specifically on alleged starvation claims: Is Israel doing enough to facilitate humanitarian aid?
Israel is a Geneva Conventions signatory, not Rome Statute
When Israel testified in January, it did so because it is a signatory of the Geneva Conventions, which include the laws of war, and in it, laws against starvation as a method of warfare.
Israel did not sign the Rome Statute, along with the US, the founding document of the International Court of Justice. The ICC investigates and tries individual leaders for war crimes – it is the body that issued the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant.
The ICJ handles disputes between nations.
In February, the United States, under President Donald Trump, cut financial assistance to South Africa because of the genocide case.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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