ICJ Orders Israel to Address Famine in Gaza

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Facts

• The UN's top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), voted unanimously Thursday to order Israel to act 'without delay' to enable the delivery of aid and food to Gaza.¹
• It said, 'Palestinians in Gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine…but that famine is setting in.' It noted that 31 Palestinians — 27 of them children — had already died of malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza.²
• The legally binding decision orders Israel to take 'all necessary and effective measures' in 'full cooperation with the United Nations' to provide aid including food, water, fuel, and medical supplies.³
• The emergency measure coincides with an ICJ complaint filed by South Africa against Israel, which accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Israel has vehemently denied such allegations.³
• While the ICJ could take years to rule on South Africa's wider case, the court in January found it 'plausible' that Israel had violated the Genocide Convention and ordered Israel to take a series of provisional measures.⁴
• Those measures — which Israel is still legally obligated to follow alongside the new orders — called on the state not to commit any of the acts prohibited by the convention, as well as to do everything within its power to prevent and punish those involved with inciting genocide.⁴

Sources: ¹BBC News, ²Al Jazeera, ³Guardian and ⁴NPR Online News.

Narratives

• Pro-Palestine narrative, as provided by BBC News. After months of UN warnings about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Israel has not acted to facilitate the entry of much-needed aid. Children are now dying of malnutrition and the UN now finds it plausible that Israel is using man-made famine as an act of war. Palestinians are currently only receiving aid dropped from planes, which is the most inefficient way to deliver supplies. Israel must act immediately to address this suffering.
• Pro-Israel narrative, as provided by Israel Defense Forces. Israel and its military are committed to complying with international law, delivering hundreds of thousands of tons of food and tens of thousands of tons of water, among several other packages of supplies. While aid convoys have to be checked for weapons that might be delivered to Hamas, Israel has worked tirelessly to quickly screen these deliveries and bring them through Egypt and safely into Gaza.

Predictions