Nearly six months after the Hamas offensive in Israel, famine is “taking hold” in the Palestinian territory, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) deplored this Thursday, March 28. The latter ordered Israel to provide “urgent humanitarian aid”, “in accordance with its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”.
This order from the ICJ responds to a request, made in early March by South Africa, to impose “additional precautionary measures” on Israel to those announced on January 26.
On that date, the Court based in The Hague ordered the Jewish state to take measures to prevent acts of a genocidal nature against the Palestinians and improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza. She had given the country one month to submit a detailed report on the measures taken in this regard.
1.1 million people affected by famine
In its order published this Thursday, the Court observes that “the disastrous conditions in which the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip live have further deteriorated.” “The Palestinians in Gaza are no longer only exposed to the risk of famine,” concludes the ICJ.
The food crisis in Gaza has continued to grow since the Hamas offensive last October.
© / AFP
2.4 million people living in the Gaza Strip are at risk of famine, according to the UN. Worse, according to latest projections of the Integrated Food Security Classification Framework (IPC), “in the most likely scenario and assuming an escalation of the conflict – including a ground offensive in Rafah”, half of the population of the Gaza Strip (i.e. 1.1 million people) is expected to be facing “catastrophic” levels of food insecurity between now and July. This is IPC Phase 5 – the most severe level of the acute food insecurity scale. Between February and March, more than 675,000 people were included in this phase.
Therefore, “the provision by all interested parties of basic services and humanitarian assistance urgently required” and “on a large scale”, the ICJ orders. The Court further recommends that aid to the Palestinians in Gaza must be provided “by increasing the capacity and number of land crossing points and keeping them open as long as necessary.”
This Thursday, Pretoria welcomed this decision, describing it as “important”. “The fact that Palestinian deaths are not only caused by bombings and ground attacks, but also by disease and starvation, indicates a need to protect this group’s right to exist,” the statement said. South Africa in a press release.
As a reminder, the orders of the ICJ, which settles disputes between States, are binding but it has no means of enforcing them. For example, she ordered Russia to stop its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.