More than five months into Israel’s ground and air campaign, launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, there are widespread shortages of food, medicines and clean water in Gaza, doctors and aid agencies say.
ICJ orders Israel to ensure food gets into Gaza
Judges at the International Court of Justice on Thursday unanimously ordered Israel to take all the necessary and effective action to ensure basic food supplies arrive without delay to the Palestinian population in Gaza.
The ICJ said the Palestinians in Gaza face worsening conditions of life and famine and starvation are spreading.
“The court observes that Palestinians in Gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine (…) but that famine is setting in,” the judges said in their order.
The new measures were requested by South Africa as part of its ongoing case that accuses Israel of state-led genocide in Gaza.
A Palestinian woman prepares Ramadan breakfast food on the rubble of her house which was destroyed during Israel’s military offensive, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, on March 13, 2024. (Reuters)
In Thursday’s order the court reaffirmed the January measures but added Israel must take action to ensure unhindered provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance including food, water and electricity as well as medical supplies and medical care to Palestinians throughout Gaza.
The judges added that this could be done “by increasing the capacity and number of land crossing points and maintaining them open for as long as necessary.” The court ordered Israel to submit a report in a month after the order to detail how it had given effect to the ruling.
FRANCE24/ AL ARABIYA
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