The U.N.G.A. approved a resolution asking the U.N.’s highest court to State what Israel’s obligations are in Gaza and the West Bank to provide humanitarian assistance. File
| Photo Credit: AP

The U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution on Thursday (December 20, 2024) asking the U.N.’s highest court to State what Israel’s obligations are in Gaza and the West Bank to provide humanitarian assistance essential for the survival of Palestinian civilians.

The vote on the Norwegian-sponsored resolution seeking an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice was 137-12, with 22 abstentions. The United States, Israel’s closest ally, voted against the resolution.

Resolutions in the 193-member General Assembly are not legally binding, though they do reflect world opinion.

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It follows the ICJ’s condemnation of Israel’s rule over lands it captured 57 years ago. In a non-binding opinion in July, the court said Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories is unlawful and called on Israel to end its occupation and halt settlement construction immediately.

Thursday’s resolution also follows Israeli laws passed in late October, which take effect in 90 days, that effectively ban the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, from operating in the Palestinian territories.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has stressed that no other U.N. agency can take on the UNRWA’s role and a U.N. spokesman reiterated on Thursday that under international law, as the occupying power, Israel would be responsible for fulfilling the basic needs of Palestinians if the UNRWA is banned.

Norway’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Andreas Kravik, told reporters that the international community has a responsibility to react to tens of thousands of deaths in Gaza and virtually the entire population experiencing acute hunger, and some near famine.

He said many countries, the U.N. and its agencies, and aid organisations are ready to step up their humanitarian efforts but the problem is “there is a lack of access”.

Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon told the Assembly before the vote that its members were debating “the same recycled nonsense, where all that matters is attacking Israel and challenge its right to protect its citizens”.

“This time the Palestinians are using a new tool in this diplomatic circus: the International Court of Justice,” he said.

The resolution demands that Israel comply with all its legal obligations under international law, including by the U.N.’s top court.

It expresses concern about the Israeli legislation on the UNRWA and Israeli measures to impede assistance to the Palestinians.

The resolution seeks the ICJ’s guidance on additional questions about its July ruling, including what Israel’s obligations are “to ensure and facilitate the unhindered provision of urgently-needed supplies essential to the survival of the Palestinian civilian population”.

Israel’s military conducted a missile strike early Tuesday (September 10, 2024) that targeted a humanitarian area in the Gaza Strip, killing and wounding dozens. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

At least 40 people killed, 60 wounded in Israeli strike on Mawasi in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian WAFA news agency says.

Details about the strike in the Mawasi coastal community just west of Khan Younis which the Israeli military has designated as a humanitarian zone remained unclear. The area is home to many Palestinians displaced by the Israel-Hamas war in which the Israeli military has devastated the wider Gaza Strip after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

The Israeli military described the strike as hitting “significant Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command-and-control center,” without immediately providing additional evidence.

The Palestinian news agency WAFA said dozens had been killed and wounded. It described five missiles striking the area, cratering the ground.

The Israeli military said it used “precise munitions, aerial surveillance and additional means” it did not immediately describe to limit civilian casualties.

Footage circulating on social media showed deep craters at the site of the attack, the strewn ruins around it covered in shredded tents, a bicycle and other debris. Rescue workers used shovels to shift through the sand. Bystanders used their hands to dig, illuminated by mobile phone light.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began. It does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count. The war has caused vast destruction and displaced around 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in their Oct. 7 attack. They abducted another 250 and are still holding around 100 after releasing most of the rest in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel during a weeklong cease-fire last November. Around a third of the remaining hostages are believed to be dead.