The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has said that Israel is obligated to uphold international human rights laws in the Palestinian territories and work with the United Nations to provide relief to the civilian people in Gaza. The basic needs include food, water, shelter, fuel and medical services. In a scathing opinion, the ICJ remarked that Israel has to respect the prohibition on the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare and must ensure that the essential supplies of daily life are provided to the people in the Palestinian territories.

 

 

The panel of 11 judges said Israel has to support relief efforts provided by the United Nations in the Gaza Strip for Palestinian refugees. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed the advisory opinion and urged Israel to comply with its obligations in accordance with the opinion. Meanwhile, Israel’s foreign ministry has strongly rejected the opinion, calling it a politicisation of international law, which seeks to produce political outcomes.

 

 

Echoing the same view, the US State Department called it a politicised non-binding advisory opinion. It said, this unfairly bashes Israel and gives the UN Relief and Work Agency a free pass for its deep entanglement with and material support for Hamas terrorism. Israel banned UNRWA from operating in Gaza last year, alleging that some of its employees were members of the militant group Hamas or other affiliated associations.