World Court says Israel must allow aid into Gaza Strip
Israel must allow sufficient humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and co-operate with UNRWA, the International Court of Justice says in an opinion.
The United Nations’ top legal body, the International Court of Justice, has given an advisory opinion saying that Israel is under the obligation to ensure the basic needs of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip are met.
The panel of 11 judges added Israel has to support relief efforts provided by the UN in the Gaza Strip and also to UN entities including UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
“As an occupying power, Israel is obliged to ensure the basic needs of the local population, including the supplies essential for their survival,” presiding judge Yuji Iwasawa said.
He added that basic needs include food, water, shelter, fuel and medical services.
Advisory opinions of the ICJ, also known as the World Court, carry legal and political weight but they are not binding and the court has no enforcement power.
The opinion, which was requested by the UN General Assembly in December, clarified the protections states must provide for UN staff and is expected to have effects beyond the Gaza Strip conflict.
In a post on X, Israel’s foreign ministry said it categorically rejected the court’s findings and added “Israel fully upholds its obligations under international law”.
Israel banned UNRWA from operating in the Gaza Strip last year, claiming that some of its employees were members of militant group Hamas or other affiliated associations.
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The foreign ministry said that the United Nations had yet to fully probe the extent of Hamas involvement in UNRWA and said Israel would not co-operate “with an organisation that is infested with terror activities”.
The ICJ judges on Wednesday concluded that Israel had not substantiated its claims that a significant number of UNRWA employees are Hamas members.
In April this year lawyers for the United Nations and Palestinian representatives at the ICJ accused Israel of breaking international law by refusing to let aid into the Gaza Strip between March and May, a time when Israel completely cut off all goods while accusing Hamas fighters of stealing aid.
Since then, some humanitarian aid has been allowed in but UN officials say it was nowhere near what was needed to ease a humanitarian disaster which crossed the threshold into famine.
A ceasefire agreed this month calls for Israel to admit 600 trucks of aid per day but the UN says far less is entering so far.
The ICJ opinion said Gazans were inadequately supplied and stressed Israel cannot use starvation as a weapon of war.
Paul Reichler, a lawyer acting for the Palestinians, said the findings meant Israel was not complying with its international law obligations.
“On the one hand, you have the court finding that starvation as a method of warfare is illegal and on the other, the court found that Israel deliberately prevented food from reaching the civilian population in Gaza,” he said.
UNRWA, which serves millions of Palestinians by running schools and aid distribution, employs more than 30,000 people.
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The UN said in August last year that nine UNRWA staff may have been involved in Hamas’ October 7, 2023 assault on Israel and had been fired.
Israel says another UNRWA employee killed in the Gaza Strip in October 2024 was also a Hamas commander.
Meanwhile, the federal government on Wednesday evening announced it had agreed to contribute a sole member of the Australian Defence Force towards a US-led co-ordination centre in Israel to support security and reconstruction efforts in Gaza.
Opposition frontbencher James Paterson said with no boots on the ground, the contribution was a “very, very modest one”.
“We should be extremely cautious about the ideas proposed by some, that we should have Australian troops on the ground, that we should have a role in peacekeeping in Gaza,” the Liberal senator told Sky News on Thursday.
“Hamas has re-emerged in Gaza. They’ve conducted executions in the open light of day, and deploying Australian troops would be an enormously risky thing to do.
“I would be very reluctant to endorse that.”
The fragile truce is holding since the US president brokered the ceasefire deal almost two weeks ago, with Hamas warned it would meet a heavy response if the terrorist group “continues to act badly”.
Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has killed more than 67,000 people, including 20,000 children, according to local health authorities.
More than 1200 Israelis were killed in the Hamas October 7 attack in 2023, with hundreds more taken hostage.
Australia, among other US allies, was invited to participate in the Civil-Military Coordination Centre.
Cabinet minister Catherine King wouldn’t confirm if more Australian personnel would be sent to the Middle East.
“The liaison officer is … with the Australian Defence Force, so that is in line with our efforts to participate in the peace process that President Trump has negotiated,” she told ABC TV.
“This is the request that’s been of us, and that’s what we’ve put in place to date.”
In a statement, the Defence Department said while the nation’s priority remains the Indo-Pacific, it “will always carefully consider opportunities to contribute to international peace and security”.
“Australia’s contribution of a liaison officer to the (Civil-Military Coordination Centre) in Israel is in line with our commitment to support international efforts towards a just and enduring peace,” it said.
