World Court orders Israel to halt Gaza famine as fighting flares
•No change since UN ceasefire vote, says MSF •Stalled Israeli visas hindering aid efforts
The World Court on Thursday unanimously ordered Israel, accused by South Africa of genocide in Gaza, to take all necessary and effective action to ensure basic food supplies to the enclave’s Palestinian population and halt spreading famine.
The order came as Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters battled in close combat around Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital, where the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad said they attacked Israeli soldiers and tanks with rockets and mortar fire. Judges at the World Court, also known as the International Court of Justice, said the Palestinians in Gaza face worsening conditions and famine and starvation were spreading.
“The court observes that Palestinians in Gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine ... but that famine is setting in,” the judges said in their order.
The new measures were requested by South Africa as part of its ongoing case that accuses Israel of state-led genocide in Gaza.
There was no immediate comment from Israel’s Foreign Ministry on the World Court ruling.
The Israeli Army said it continued to operate around the Al Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza City after storming it more than a week ago. Gaza’s Health Ministry said wounded people and patients were being held inside an administration building in Al-Shifa that was not equipped to provide them with healthcare.
Five patients had died since the Israeli raid began due to shortages of food, water and medical care, the Hamas-run ministry said.
Israeli forces continued to blockade Al-Amal and Nasser hospitals in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, while several other areas came under Israeli fire, residents said.
The MSF medical charity lamented that nothing had changed on the ground in Gaza since the UN
Security Council resolution this week demanding an “immediate ceasefire.”
Christos Christou, MSF’s international president, said: “We haven’t seen any change after this resolution on the ground.” Difficulties getting Israeli permission for foreign staff to work in Israel and the Palestinian territories are hampering efforts to get aid into Gaza, according to UN data and aid workers.
Six UN aid workers and other groups cited delays to visas as an example of red tape they say is thwarting aid to Gaza.