The Israeli government has failed to comply with at least one measure in the legally binding order from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in South Africa’s genocide case, Human Rights Watch said today. Citing warnings about “catastrophic conditions” in Gaza, the court ordered Israel on January 26, 2024, to “take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian aid,” and to report back on its compliance to the specific measures “within one month.”

One month later, however, Israel continues to obstruct the provision of basic services and the entry and distribution within Gaza of fuel and lifesaving aid, acts of collective punishment that amount to war crimes and include the use of starvation of civilians as a weapon of war. Fewer trucks have entered Gaza and fewer aid missions have been permitted to reach northern Gaza in the several weeks since the ruling than in the weeks preceding it, according to United Nations Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

“The Israeli government is starving Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians, putting them in even more peril than before the World Court’s binding order,” said Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch. “The Israeli government has simply ignored the court’s ruling, and in some ways even intensified its repression, including further blocking lifesaving aid.”

Human Rights Watch found in December 2023 that Israeli authorities are using starvation as a weapon of war. Pursuant a policy set out by Israeli officials and carried out by Israeli forces, the Israeli authorities are deliberately blocking the delivery of water, food, and fuel, willfully impeding humanitarian assistance, apparently razing agricultural areas, and depriving the civilian population of objects indispensable to its survival.

      • xor
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        9 months ago

        Alright, here’s a thought for you:

        Israel has progressively colonised Palestine, forcing the historical residents to abandon their homes or be victims to brutal violence at the hand of settlers, while Israeli police intentionally fail to act. Israel maintains a blockade of Gaza, massively restricting their access to basic necessities. After decades of what is, effectively, a modern apartheid state, with protests brutally suppressed, it was inevitable that the Palestinian population would turn to violence.

        Not only that, but Netanyahu’s government has directly supported Hamas in order to prevent legitimate Palestinian governance and cooperation.

        This is very literally an oppressed native population rising up against colonisers - by the sounds of it, colonisers supported by you.