Court orders Israel to let aid reach Gazans

The world’s top court has ordered Israel to “ensure urgent humanitarian assistance” reaches Gazans, as warnings multiplied of imminent famine after nearly six months of relentless conflict.

Heavy fighting and sustained bombardment again rocked the territory despite the UN Security Council’s adoption of a resolution earlier this week demanding an “immediate ceasefire”.

“Israel shall … take all necessary and effective measures to ensure, without delay … the unhindered provision … of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance,” the Hague-based International Court of Justice ruled.

This included food, water, electricity, fuel, shelter, clothing, hygiene and sanitation requirements, as well as medical supplies and medical care to Palestinians throughout Gaza, its judges said. “Palestinians in Gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine, but … famine is setting in.”

South Africa had asked the court to bolster a previous order it issued in January for Israel to allow aid into Gaza to take account of the further deterioration of the situation.

The UN has warned famine “is ever closer to becoming a reality in northern Gaza”, and said Gaza’s health system is collapsing “due to ongoing hostilities and access constraints”.

While the war has turned much of the territory into a devastated wasteland, Israel has also imposed a siege on its 2.4 million people, eased only by occasional aid deliveries.

“We have to queue for everything,” said one displaced woman, Maram Abu Amra, in Rafah. “We walk for an hour in total. Sometimes, we return empty-handed, without water.”