World court orders Israel ensure urgent aid for war-ravaged Gaza

The world's top court has ordered Israel to ensure urgent humanitarian assistance reaches people in the Gaza Strip, where fighting continued Friday, including around hospitals, despite a binding UN ceasefire call.

In its order, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague said: "Palestinians in Gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine, but... famine is setting in."

In January, the court had ruled that Israel must facilitate "urgently needed" humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory and prevent genocidal acts, but Israel rejected the case brought by South Africa.

The latest binding ruling from the court, which has little means of enforcement, came as Israel's military said Friday it was continuing operations in Al-Shifa Hospital, the territory's largest, for a 12th day.

Throughout the coastal territory, dozens of people were killed overnight, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said early Friday.

Among the dead were 12 people killed in a home in the southern city of Rafah, which has been regularly bombed ahead of a mooted Israeli ground operation against Hamas militants there.

In darkness, men worked under the light of mobile phones, digging with their hands to free people trapped under concrete blocks after an air strike, AFPTV images showed.

The ICJ ordered Israel to "take all necessary and effective measures to ensure, without delay" the supply "of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance" such as food, water and medical supplies.

'Immediate ceasefire'

The war began with Hamas's 7 October attack that resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory war on Gaza has killed at least 32,623 people and injured 75,092, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry.

Large parts of the territory have been reduced to rubble, and most of Gaza's population is now sheltering at its southern tip, Rafah.

On Monday, the United Nations Security Council demanded an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza, the release of hostages held by militants, and "ensuring humanitarian access".

Member states are obliged to abide by such resolutions, but fighting has continued, and the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity said on Friday that nothing has changed on the ground.

BREAKING

International Court of Justice has ordered provisional measures in the Israel genocide case put forward by South Africa, saying Israel must:

- Ensure it does not commit genocide
- Punish those who incite to genocide
- Provide humanitarian assistance in Gaza
- Prevent… pic.twitter.com/h5WSwMj8kl

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) January 26, 2024

Aid groups say only a fraction of the supplies required to meet basic humanitarian needs have been allowed in since 7 October.

Israel has blamed shortages on the Palestinian side, namely a lack of capacity to distribute assistance once it gets in.

Humanitarians say trucking is the most effective way to deliver the aid, but the number of vehicles allowed in is still insufficient.