Israeli human rights groups accuse country of failing to abide by ICJ’s Gaza aid ruling
Children wait in line to receive food in Rafah in southern Gaza, on 20 December 2023
Peter Beaumont and Jason Burke report in The Guardian on 11 March 2024:
Twelve of Israel’s most prominent human rights organisations have signed an open letter accusing the country of failing to comply with the international court of justice’s (ICJ) provisional ruling that it should facilitate access of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The court in The Hague made a number of legal requirements of Israel when it issued a provisional ruling in late January in response to South Africa’s complaint accusing the state of committing genocide in its military campaign in Gaza.
The requirements included taking all measures to prevent intentional harm to civilians, facilitating immediate humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, preventing and punishing direct or public incitement to genocide, and preserving evidence of any wrongful acts committed during the country’s war against Hamas.
In their letter, the rights groups say Israel was legally obliged to implement the measures ordered by the court but had so far failed to do so. Signatories to the letter include the military whistleblower group Breaking the Silence and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
“The ICJ order is a legal obligation to end the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. It must be abided by, not only to ease the urgent suffering of civilians but for the sake of humanity as a whole,” the letter says. It also notes that the ICJ urged Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release all Israeli hostages.
Israel has faced renewed pressure over the lack of humanitarian access to Gaza. The US and other countries have airdropped aid into the coastal strip, and the US and EU have ordered the opening of a sea corridor to the coastal territory.
The letter emerged as the UN secretary general, António Guterres, repeated his call for a truce in the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. He asked for the release of hostages held by Hamas and the removal of “all obstacles to ensure the delivery of lifesaving aid at the speed and massive scale required” to Gaza, where the UN has warned that a quarter of the population are on the brink of famine.