The International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion reasserts that Israel as the occupying power is obligated to ensure that Palestinians living under occupation have the essential supplies of daily life, including by facilitating humanitarian access by the UN, particularly through the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA).
“The ICJ’s ruling reaffirms that Israel’s brutal, military occupation of the Palestinian Territory is unlawful and confirms that Israel is using of starvation as a weapon of war in its genocide against two million Palestinian women, men and children,” says Mohamed Duar, Amnesty International Australia’s spokesperson for the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Even after the ceasefire, Israeli authorities have continued to block aid to the occupied Gaza Strip, including from UN agencies like UNRWA. Meanwhile a new, restrictive and invasive registration process implemented by Israel for international non-governmental organisations hinders life-saving humanitarian work.
“Israel must immediately allow humanitarian aid in at scale and aid routes, including the Rafah crossing must be immediately reopened.
“Now more than ever, UNRWA must be able to deliver its operations in providing a safe future and in providing a lifeline to Palestinians across the Territory, for which it has been doing for 77 years. There is no alternative to UNRWA,”
Mohamed Duar, Amnesty International Australia’s spokesperson for the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Now more than ever, UNRWA must be able to deliver its operations in providing a safe future and in providing a lifeline to Palestinians across the Territory, for which it has been doing for 77 years. There is no alternative to UNRWA,” says Mr Duar.
“States, including Australia, risk complicity if they do not continue to pressure the Israeli government to end the deliberate starvation of Palestinians in Gaza.”
The work of UNRWA and other United Nations organisations is a lifeline, providing food, healthcare, education and shelter, hence for the survival of nearly 2 million Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip. Their operations are essential and must be protected across the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Israel’s restriction of aid has had catastrophic consequences for Palestinians, inflicting conditions for the physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza including forced starvation and repeated waves of mass forced displacement.
The ICJ opinion underlines the need for Israel to immediately open all border crossings to ensure the unimpeded flow and distribution of aid, to guarantee the protection of humanitarian workers and facilitate full UN operations in Gaza. States, including Australia, must ensure that Israel upholds its legal obligations.
Background
Founded in 1949, UNRWA has provided food, shelter, education, and emergency aid to Palestinian refugees across the Occupied Palestinian Territory and neighbouring countries. Its mandate includes the right of Palestinian refugees to return. At a time when Israel, as the occupying power, continues to violate its obligations towards Palestinian refugees, UNRWA remains the only organisation capable of delivering large-scale, essential humanitarian assistance.
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