Report debunks Israel’s claims to ICJ it facilitates aid delivery to Gaza
The provisional measures issued on January 26 by the ICJ ordering Israel to facilitate the flow of aid in Gaza to avert the possibility of genocide are not being fulfilled, a report by Refugees International has found, despite Israel’s claims to the contrary.
Claim: In its defence to the ICJ, Israel argued it has actively eliminated bottlenecks and improved the entrance and distribution of aid in Gaza.
The report revealed that Israeli authorities have “erected unnecessary hurdles, complicated logistical processes, and an unpredictable vetting system, rendering the inspection regime overwhelmingly burdensome with layers of bureaucracy and inspection and limited working hours”.
Claim: Israel claimed that it expanded capacity for aid delivery to Gaza.
The average number of trucks delivered in February fell by 50 percent compared with the previous month, according to UN data cited in the report. Critical crossings like the northern Erez and Al-Muntar [known as Karni to Israelis] remain closed, impeding access to the north of Gaza.
Claim: Israel argued that it facilitated access to water, medical supplies and evacuations, fuel delivery and logistics.
While Israel has allowed a “very limited flow of aid to enter the territory, the report said this must be assessed in the full context of a clear pattern of wider obstruction of relief deliveries to Gaza, and its conduct of military operations that systematically obstruct effective humanitarian action within Gaza”.
Israel ‘consistently, groundlessly’ blocked Gaza aid operations
Israel has “consistently and groundlessly” blocked aid operations for Gaza even as the enclave falls deeper into famine, according to a report released by humanitarian group Refugees International. The aid group based its report on interviews with dozens of government officials, humanitarian workers, and NGO staff engaged in on-the-ground aid efforts from Egypt, Jordan, and Israel.
It found that Israel:
- “routinely and arbitrarily” stopped legitimate aid from reaching Gaza;
- enforced a convoluted aid inspection process that lacked “clear or consistent instructions”;
- regularly denied humanitarian convoys from moving into Gaza; and
- waged “persistent attacks on Gaza’s humanitarian, health, food, power, and other critical infrastructure”.
The report added that all of that showed Gaza’s humanitarian crisis is caused by “Israeli policies and conduct”.
Logistics within Egypt, Jordan ‘limiting aid to Gaza’
We reported earlier on the report by Refugees International that revealed how Israel is failing to uphold its responsibility to facilitate aid to Gaza. The organisation also found that logistical issues within Egypt and Jordan are also limiting the distribution of life-saving assistance to the Palestinian population.
The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, mainly intended for commercial deliveries, lacks the capacity to process the substantial amount of aid Gaza requires. Egyptian authorities have also sought to deter a large-scale humanitarian response in the northern Sinai, a military zone.
The report also found that Cairo responded to Israel’s pressure to open its borders to Palestinian refugees by intensifying its oversight and regulation of access to the border area for aid agencies, as well as its monitoring of entry and exit of individuals to and from Gaza.
NGOs delivering aid to Gaza from Jordan’s capital Amman told Refugees International that Israeli officials put in place “difficult obstacles” that did not exist before and have yet to provide clear standard operating procedures to Jordanian authorities.
South Africa’s ICJ request is ‘proper under international law’
South Africa’s latest ICJ petition seeking additional emergency measures against Israel over the threat of famine in Gaza has solid legal grounding, according to an international human rights lawyer. Jonathan Kuttab, co-founder of Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq, told Al Jazeera that the request is “very proper under international law”.
“People seem to forget that it is the obligation of Israel under international law to provide food and basic services to the people under its occupation,” he said. “Not only has Israel failed to meet that obligation, it has also obstructed and prevented others from bringing food in as part of a deliberate strategy to starve the Palestinian people.”
In January, the ICJ ordered Israel to refrain from any acts that could fall under the UN’s Genocide Convention following a South African petition. Since then, South Africa has told the UN’s top court that it believes Israel is breaching these measures.
UN expert praises South Africa’s latest appeal to ICJ
Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, has expressed “pure gratitude and admiration” for South Africa’s new appeal to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over Israel’s war on Gaza.
South Africa has again called on the ICJ to order additional emergency measures against Israel as people are now starving in Gaza and there is no time to wait, it said. “The threat of all-out famine has now materialised. The court needs to act now to stop the imminent tragedy,” South Africa said in a statement.
Pure gratitude and admiration, @GovernmentZA.
For each and every word. pic.twitter.com/ZkkFQqt3RI
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) March 6, 2024
Israel accuses South Africa of exploiting ICJ on behalf of Hamas
Israel has accused South Africa of acting “as the legal arm of Hamas” after it again petitioned the ICJ to take measures against Israel. “South Africa continues to act as the legal arm of Hamas in an attempt to undermine Israel’s inherent right to defend itself and its citizens, and to release all of the hostages,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said.
“The repeated requests for provisional measures made by South Africa in order to assist Hamas are yet another cynical exploitation of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, which has already twice rejected the baseless attempts to deny Israel its right and obligation of self-defence,” it said.
Clayson Monyela, a spokesperson for South Africa’s Department of International Relations & Cooperation, dismissed the accusations. “South Africa has spelled out its concerns in its application to the ICJ. They [Israel] know what they are doing. It is absurd to keep saying that South Africa is acting on behalf of Hamas,” Monyela said.
South Africa on Wednesday asked the top UN court to order further steps against Israel, after it “breached” provisional measures issued on January 26.
UN expert condemns Israel’s dehumanisation of displaced Palestinians
Five months into Israel’s war on Gaza, the Israeli government has “lost all credibility” in its claims to protect civilians in the besieged territory, a UN human rights expert has said, appealing for an urgent end to the “dehumanisation of displaced Palestinians”.
Paula Gaviria Betancur, the UN special rapporteur on the rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs), said Israel has used its evacuation orders to forcibly transfer and confine civilians in “unliveable conditions”, and that any assault on Gaza’s Rafah city, where some 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering, would force people to flee to “conditions of certain death”.
“Although Rafah has already come under periodic attack by Israeli forces, a full-scale ground assault would lead to unimaginable suffering,” Gaviria Betancur said. “Any evacuation order imposed on Rafah under the current conditions, with the rest of Gaza lying in ruins, would be in flagrant violation of international humanitarian and human rights law, forcing people to flee to conditions of certain death – deprived of food, water, healthcare and shelter,” the expert said.
UN expert ‘horrified by depravity’ of Israeli attacks on people seeking aid
Paula Gaviria Betancur said Israel has obstructed and weaponised humanitarian aid, despite a binding order by the International Court of Justice to take immediate steps to permit the delivery of basic services and humanitarian aid to Gaza as part of measures required to prevent the commission of genocide.
Instead of following the court’s order, Gaviria Betancur said, Israel launched a campaign to discredit and defund the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), “the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza”.
Israel also continued to attack aid convoys and health facilities, and assaulted aid seekers themselves, she said, noting that hundreds were reportedly “massacred and injured” during attacks on civilians queueing for food aid on February 29 and March 1.
“I am horrified by the depravity of killing civilians while they are at their most vulnerable and seeking basic assistance. These constitute atrocity crimes of the highest order,” she said.
Israel’s claim on ‘flour massacre’ contradicts evidence: Amnesty official
World must ‘abandon fiction’ Israel will respect international law, says UN expert
Paula Gaviria Betancur ended her statement by noting that a “staggering” five percent of Gaza’s population has been killed and wounded in Israeli attacks, while more than 75 percent have been displaced.
She urged the international community to remember the humanity of these victims, and said the world “must abandon the fiction that Israel will respect the principles of international humanitarian and human rights law in its military operations”.
“An immediate and permanent ceasefire, coupled with meaningful measures to document and ensure accountability for atrocities as well as secure the fundamental rights of Palestinians in Gaza, is the only path forward for the sake of our shared humanity,” she said.
UN to test Israeli military road as means of getting aid to northern Gaza
UNRWA plans to use an Israeli military road bordering Gaza to test its suitability for delivering humanitarian aid to northern parts of the enclave, according to an official. Jamie McGoldrick, the UN aid coordinator for Palestinian territories, said the UN has been pushing the Israeli military for weeks to use the road near the Gaza fence. Israel has become more cooperative following an incident in which its forces opened fire on Palestinian aid seekers in Gaza City, killing more than 100 people, he said.
“Since the incident last week, I think Israel saw quite clearly how difficult it is to deliver assistance,” McGoldrick said, adding that the UN had seen “much more cooperation from Israel as a result of that realisation”.
Aid to northern Gaza is currently delivered through Rafah in southern Gaza and driven through the besieged Palestinian territory. The proposed new route would see aid trucks escorted through Israeli territory, avoiding fighting and insecurity.
That option was there all along?
