The United Nations’ top court on Thursday ordered Israel in a legally binding decree to open more land crossings into Gaza to provide more humanitarian aid to hungry Palestinians.
The ICJ order in The Hague requires Israel to take “all necessary and effective measures to ensure the immediate” delivery of “urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance,” including food, water, fuel and medical supplies.
The court also ordered Israel to immediately ensure that “its forces do not commit any act that violates any of the rights of the Palestinians in Gaza as a protected group under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, including through any actions that prevent the delivery of much-needed humanitarian assistance.”
The court ordered Israel to report within a month on its implementation of the order.
Israel had no immediate comment on the ruling, but it vehemently denies committing genocide during its nearly six-month war against Hamas militants. It urged the U.N. court not to issue new orders.
The order was issued in a case filed in South Africa accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. The conflict began with Hamas’s shocking attack on Israel on October 7, which killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of some 250 hostages. Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and thousands of Hamas militants, according to the Israeli military.
The Israeli military reported fighting on Thursday near Shifa hospital in Gaza City and in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
The health ministry in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip said on Thursday that 62 Palestinians had been killed the previous day.
In a U-turn on Wednesday, Israel agreed to send its war strategists to Washington to discuss its intentions for a ground attack on Hamas militants in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
On Monday, Israel canceled the visit to protest the U.S. refusal to veto a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.
The United States, Israel’s staunchest ally, abstained from this week’s U.N. vote after earlier vetoing a similar resolution. That drew a condemnation from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, signaling a growing divide between Israel and Washington over the conduct of the war.
But even as Netanyahu canceled a visit by a group of war strategists, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was still in Washington this week for talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Netanyahu said Rafah’s attack was necessary to eliminate Hamas’ control of Gaza, a narrow enclave on the Mediterranean coast. But the United States has told Israel it opposes the Rafah incursion, especially since more than a million Palestinian civilians are holed up in makeshift tents and buildings.
Israel said it would move Palestinians to safety before attacking four Hamas camps in Rafah, but did not say where they would be sent.
While Netanyahu insisted that the US abstention was “very, very bad”, he told visiting US Republican Senator Rick Scott that his initial cancellation of the Israeli delegation “was first and foremost a message to Hamas.” Message: Don’t bet on this” [United Nations] pressure [for a cease-fire]. this will not work. “
Netanyahu said the Security Council vote “encourages Hamas to take a tough stance and believes international pressure will prevent Israel” from achieving its war goals. Israel has vowed to continue fighting until Hamas forces are destroyed and the roughly 100 hostages it holds are released.
The White House said more talks with Israeli officials would be “a good thing” and that specific dates were being discussed.
This report contains information from The Associated Press, Reuters and AFP.
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