FILE - A lone demonstrator waves the Palestinian flag outside the Peace Palace, rear, housing the International Court of Justice, or World Court, in The Hague, Netherlands. AP
A week of hearings has been scheduled in response to a request last year from the U.N. General Assembly, which asked the International Court of Justice to weigh in on Israel’s legal responsibilities in the occupied Palestinians territories after it blocked the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees from operating on its territory.
In a resolution sponsored by Norway, the General Assembly requested an advisory opinion, a non-binding but legally important decision from the court, on Israel's obligations in the occupied territories to "ensure and facilitate the unhindered provision of urgently needed supplies essential to the survival of the Palestinian civilian population?”
Hearings open as the humanitarian aid system in Gaza is nearing collapse. Israel has blocked the entry of food, fuel, medicine and other humanitarian supplies since March 2. It renewed its deadly bombardment on March 18, breaking a ceasefire, and seized large parts of the territory.
The World Food Program said last week its food stocks in the Gaza Strip have run out under Israel’s nearly 8-week-old blockade, ending a main source of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the territory. Many families are struggling to feed their children.
The United Nations will be the first to address the court on Monday, followed by Palestinian representatives.
In total, 40 states and four international organisations are scheduled to participate. Israel is not scheduled to speak during the hearings, but could submit a written statement.
The United States, which voted against the U.N. resolution, is scheduled to speak on Wednesday.
The court will likely take months to rule. But experts say the decision, though not legally binding, could profoundly impact international jurisprudence, international aid to Israel and public opinion.
“Advisory opinions provide clarity,” Juliette McIntyre, an expert on international law at the University of South Australia, told The Associated Press. Governments rely on them in international negotiations and the outcome could be used to pressure Israel into easing restrictions on aid.
Whether any ruling will have an effect on Israel, however, is unclear. Israel has ignored all resolution and international decisions regarding the Palestinians territories. Decades before Gaza's war, Tel Aviv also ignored a 2004 advisory ruling by the ICJ that found its West Bank separation barrier illegal.
On Tuesday, South Africa, a staunch critic of Israel's atrocities, will present its arguments. In hearings last year in a separate case at the court, the country accused Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza. Those proceedings are still underway.
Israel’s air and ground war has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children in Gaza since October 2023.
Israel’s ban on the agency, known as UNRWA, came into effect in January.
The Israeli ban doesn't apply directly to Gaza. Yet, Israel controls all entry to the Palestinian territory, and its ban on UNRWA from operating inside Israel greatly limits the agency's ability to function.
UNRWA was established by the U.N. General Assembly in 1949 to provide relief for Palestinians refugees who fled or were expelled by armed Zionist gangs from their homes in the 1948 war.
The agency has been providing aid and services — including health and education — to some 2.5 million Palestinians in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, as well as 3 million more in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.
* This story was edited by Ahram Online
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