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ICJ case is about ‘very rights and existence’ of Palestinians
Anisha Patel, a member of the governing council at Law for Palestine, a human rights organisation, has told Al Jazeera that today’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearing is about more than just the future of UNRWA – it is about the “very rights and existence of the Palestinian people”.
“Whilst state representatives address the court in The Hague, Israel is inflicting in Gaza conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Palestinian people,” the legal expert said. “Having forced the Palestinian people into a dependency on humanitarian assistance, Israel is now completely restricting this humanitarian assistance – with devastating consequences for Palestinians.”
The ICJ is currently holding hearings on Israel’s obligations under international law concerning the presence and activities of the United Nations and other international organisations in the occupied Palestinian territory, as well as the role of third states.
Patel described Israel’s repeated attacks on UNRWA and the UN more broadly – including its premises, personnel, and mandate – as part of efforts “to weaponise humanitarian aid in persistent violation of international law”, adding that “these actions are in violation of Israel’s obligations as a member of the UN – and its obligations under the UN Charter.”
She also emphasised the overriding legal argument presented today. Israel’s presence in the West Bank and Gaza is “unlawful” and it has “no legal authority to impede humanitarian goods or services to the territory”.
The case, she said, is not simply about Israel’s obligations, but whether the larger international legal order can be upheld.
Israel violating UN Charter ‘without any consequence’
Ubai Al-Aboudi, executive director at the Bisan Center for Research and Development in the occupied West Bank’s Ramallah city, has reacted to today’s International Court of Justice hearing, accusing Israel of ongoing violations of international law.
“Today’s case is another example of how Israel is violating the UN Charter without any consequence,” Al-Aboudi told Al Jazeera.
He also criticised what he described as a delay in political action while judicial proceedings are under way. “The people in Gaza are starving, of course Israel has an obligation to facilitate and enable humanitarian organisations, including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinians.”
Al-Aboudi said Israel has “closed the space for humanitarian work in Gaza and severely restricted it in the West Bank and East Jerusalem”.
“These violations need immediate intervention by states,” he added, “including the stopping of weapons transfers, imposing sanctions, and holding Israeli officials accountable in front of national and international courts.”
Israel turning into ‘pariah state’, indifferent to global perceptions
Israelis are not concerned at all about the hearings taking place at The Hague today, says Gideon Levy, a columnist with Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, noting how the event has been hardly covered by Israeli media.
This is in line with the perception among Israelis “that the whole world is anti-Semitic and therefore we turn our back to the world”, Levy told Al Jazeera, noting how Israeli authorities did not participate in Pope Francis’s funeral because the pontiff had criticised Israel and noting how those authorities expelled a senior worker from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) who worked for 17 years in Israel, was married to an Israeli and had three Israeli children.
“Israel is doing everything possible to turn into a pariah state even by its own policy, not only by the attitude of the world,” Levy said. “And this hearing will have no effect on Israelis because for Israelis, UNRWA, like the ICJ and the UN or any international organisation, is anti-Semitic and therefore we can only ignore their advice.”
