As we go to press, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to ensure immediate and unhindered delivery of aid to Gaza “in full cooperation with the UN.” The ruling is part of new provisional measures issued in a genocide case brought by South Africa.
The ICJ unanimously adopted an order for the unhindered provision by all parties of “urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance, including food, water, electricity, fuel, shelter, clothing, hygiene, and sanitation requirements, as well as medical supplies and medical care to Palestinians throughout Gaza.”
The court verdict came as evidence mounts that Gaza has shifted from the brink of a man-made famine to being amid a rapidly deteriorating one that has killed at least 27 children.
A growing number of malnourished infants are being admitted to intensive care units at the few hospitals Israel has left standing, including Kamal Adwan in northern Gaza. James Elder, spokesman for the UN children’s agency UNICEF in Gaza, recounts seeing “paper thin” children and incubators full of underweight newborns from malnourished mothers.
So dire is the situation that the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, accused Israel of “provoking” famine “as a weapon of war.”
“We are in a state of famine. It is not a flood. It is not an earthquake. It is entirely man-made. By whom? Let’s dare say it: by whom? Israel is provoking famine,” said Borrell.
Yet such calamitous and repeated warnings of the impending famine by those on the ground, including UN human rights bodies, are falling on deaf ears, with Israel’s strongest Western allies doing nothing to prevent it.
The issue at hand is not the lack of famine relief aid. Hundreds of trucks loaded with essential supplies are stuck at border checkpoints controlled by Israel and Egypt, unable to deliver their life-saving cargo.
The blockade exacerbates the crisis for those needing urgent help. Israel is violating the ICJ’s ruling and preventing aid from reaching the starving Palestinians in Gaza.
Thanks to Israel’s ICJ-violating blockade, injured civilians who survived the indiscriminate airstrikes are now succumbing to their injuries in the dwindling number of operational health facilities.
The little aid permitted into Gaza by Israel faces distribution constraints, with lorry drivers denied visas. Moreover, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military while attempting to collect aid.
Even the aid provided by Israel’s allies faces restrictions, forcing donor countries to resort to airdropping supplies. Tragically, this frequently results in the aid disastrously landing in the ocean or, in several fatal instances, crashing directly onto the bodies of those it was meant to help.
The UK is aware of the danger of the famine in Gaza. “The IPC’s report warns of imminent famine. We need sustained humanitarian access by road to get more aid in. We continue to push Israel to allow more crossings to open and for longer, and for healthcare, water, and sanitation to be restored,” said UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron.
However,despite such knowlege Cameron assured pro-Israel MPs at a Conservative 1922 Committee meeting that the rumours of potential sanctions against Israel were false. He also ludicrously and explicitly denied reports suggesting that the UK might cease arms sales to Israel in the event of an invasion of Rafah—a move that could exacerbate the famine and lead to the loss of thousands more Palestinian lives.
According to a leaked recording obtained by the Observer, the British government has received advice from its own lawyers stating that Israel has breached international humanitarian law.
“The Foreign Office has received official legal advice that Israel has broken international humanitarian law, but the government has not announced it,” said Conservative chair of the House of Commons Select Committee on Foreign Affairs.
The remarks made by Alicia Kearns during the Tory fundraising event on March 13 directly contradict Cameron’s consistent denials that Israel is in violation of international humanitarian law. The legal advice also suggests that the UK should have already followed Canada, Spain, the Netherlands, and Italy in suspending all arms sales to Israel.
Across the pond, The Washington Post reported that despite US President Joe Biden’s expressed concerns regarding the Israeli incursion into Rafah and the escalating civilian casualties in Gaza, the US will proceed to send an additional $2.5 billion in weaponry, including bombs and fighter jets, to Israel.
Israel is committing genocide; there is no doubt about it. The UK rejected the ICJ ruling that it found “plausible that Israel’s acts could amount to genocide,” ordering Israel to take all measures within its power “to prevent genocidal acts, including preventing and punishing incitement to genocide and ensuring aid and services reach Palestinians under siege in Gaza.”
“We respect the role and independence of the ICJ. However, we have considerable concerns about this case, which is not helpful in the goal of achieving a sustainable ceasefire,” said a Foreign Office spokesperson. “Our view is that Israel’s actions in Gaza cannot be described as genocide, which is why we thought South Africa’s decision to bring the case was wrong and provocative.”
The foreign office reiterated the government’s official stance in support of Israel. “Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas in line with IHL [International Humanitarian Law],” the spokesperson added.
More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed, including 13,000 children, with an additional 75,000 injured due to Israel’s indiscriminate bombings. Over a thousand children have become amputees. A further 12,000 Palestinians are reported missing, presumed dead beneath the rubble. Now, an untold number of Gazans face famine while the US hampers the UN Security Council’s efforts to compel Israel to comply with international law.
The world’s foremost powers, led by the US and the UK, are now accused of facilitating the genocide of Palestinians, not only through bombings but also through famine. How many more innocent lives must be sacrificed before action is taken?
Photo: 9-year-old Fadi Zant is photographed receiving medical attention following his transfer from the northern Gaza Strip to the IMC field hospital in Rafah, Gaza, on March 24. He symbolizes a segment of the growing number of Palestinian children confronting malnutrition in the blockaded Gaza Strip, currently struggling with a famine caused by Israel’s blockade. (Credit: Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency)
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