World Court orders Israel to let humanitarian aid into Gaza 'without delay'

The ICJ, also called the World Court, said on Thursday that Israel must take "all necessary and effective measures to ensure, without delay, in full cooperation with the United Nations, the unhindered provision at scale by all concerned of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance.”

That comes as the court noted that since 26 January “the catastrophic living conditions of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have deteriorated further, in particular in view of the prolonged and widespread deprivation of food and other basic necessities to which the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been subjected."

In the letter, the court said Gazans are no longer facing only a risk of famine, "but that famine is setting in."

The court unanimously mandated Israel to increase the number of land crossings into Gaza and keep them open for "as long as necessary."

The new provisional measures issued by the court on Thursday also ordered Israel to ensure with "immediate effect that its military does not commit acts which constitute a violation of any of the rights of the Palestinians in Gaza as a protected group” under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, “including by preventing, through any action, the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance.”

The ICJ also added that Israel must submit a report on all measures it has taken to comply with this order, within one month from the date of the order.

The court's new order also reaffirms the provisional measures issued earlier this year. In January, the ICJ issued an interim ruling on the emergency measures requested by South Africa in its genocide case against Israel, ordering the occupying regime to take all measures to prevent genocide in Gaza, but stopped short of ordering a ceasefire.

South Africa filed a genocide case against Israel in December 2023 over its war on the Gaza Strip. According to South Africa’s application, Israel's actions in Gaza were "genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group."

The order also follows South Africa’s March 6 request, which called on the court to issue additional provisional measures against Israel in light of reports of widespread starvation.

“The threat of all-out famine has now materialized. The court needs to act now to stop the imminent tragedy by immediately and effectively ensuring that the rights it has found are threatened under the Genocide Convention are protected,” the country said.

South Africa also asked the court to order that Israel take “immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address famine and starvation” in the besieged strip.

The UN and other aid agencies have warned of imminent famine due to Israel's prevention of the land-based delivery of life-saving aid to Gaza.

Zionist regime unleashed its war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the usurping entity in retaliation for the regime's intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

The Zionist regime has also imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

Since the start of the offensive, the Zionist regime has martyred more than 32,500 Palestinians and injured nearly 75,000 others.