Top UN court orders Israel to allow access of aid into Gaza facing famine

By Lisa Zengarini

Amid famine looming in Gaza, the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued two new provisional measures on Thursday ordering Israel to ensure the unhindered provision of humanitarian assistance in the Strip.

The entire population in Gaza  experiencing severe food insecurity

Concern about the humanitarian catastrophe in the Palestinian enclave has deepened after the recent release of a documented report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, known as IPC, showing that the entire population of Gaza is experiencing severe food insecurity and that famine has already set in the northern part of the Strip.

Israel adamantly denies that it is obstructing the arrival of basic necessities for the Palestinian population and has accused aid organisations of failing to organise deliveries adequately.  But queues of lorries fully loaded with desperately needed aid supplies continue to line up on the Egyptian border with the city of Rafah and can only enter Gaza after a complex series of Israeli checks.

At the beginning of its offensive, Israel imposed a siege on Gaza, before gradually allowing small amounts of aid to enter. However, aid groups said that the quantities reaching the strip were far below what was needed.

The lack of adequate supplies has forced several countries, including the United States and Britain, to drop aid from the air, which is the least effective way to deliver humanitarian aid, and has also reportedly caused the drowning of several hungry Palestinians on the ground fighting to secure a share.

The IPC report has prompted more international pressure on Israel to fulfil its legal responsibilities to protect Palestinian civilians in its war against Hamas, and to allow adequate supplies of humanitarian aid to reach the people who need it.

"Hunger cannot be used as a weapon of war"

It also increased international consensus over a ceasefire leading to the UN resolution passed unanimously on Monday, 25 March, with the abstention of the U.S..

According to the UN High Commissioner for human rights Volker Türk, Gaza starvation could amount to a war crime. In an interview with the BBC,  the UN top official said that there was a "plausible" case that Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war. EU top officials have relaunched the accusation, saying that “hunger cannot be used as a weapon of war.”

Denying aid to Gaza could also be crucial to the arguments advanced by South Africa in the case filed at the ICJ in The Hague  accusing Israel accusing Israel of genocidal acts in its military campaign launched after the October 7 attacks by Hamas.

Israel firmly refutes this accusation arguing that it is not specifically targeting Palestinian civilians. According to international law, genocide involves committing acts with the “intent” to destroy an entire national, ethnic or religious group of people. 

CESVI Foundation: situation in Gaza "catastrophic"

The overwhelming seriousness of the humanitarian situation in Gaza was confirmed on Thursday by the Italian CESVI Foundation, an independent humanitarian organization combatting child malnutrition that is now providing life-saving food for the children in Gaza. “The situation in the Gaza Strip is catastrophic and continues to worsen”, said Roberto Vignola, deputy general director of CESVI.  

The Foundation has delivered 180 thousand sachets (18 tons) of  Plumpy' Nut,  a peanut paste-based food enriched with proteins and mineral salts, used as a ready-to-use therapeutic food for severely underweight children in humanitarian emergency situations. It is particularly suitable for extreme situations, because it does not need to be diluted with water and can be easily administered in any context, avoiding risks of contamination.

18 tons of  Plumpy' Nut delivered for starving children in Gaza

 “CESVI has been working to combat child malnutrition in various contexts around the world for almost 40 years, such as in the Horn of Africa, which has always been afflicted by these problems”, said. Vignola. “This is the first time that we find ourselves fighting malnutrition in a country as close as Gaza. It’s  something we would never have imagined.”

WHO: at least 27 children starved to death 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of March 12, 2024, at least 27 Palestinian children have died from malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza, in addition to the over 13,000 killed by the war, and  UNICEF said  that 7 out of 10 children under 2 years old suffer from acute malnutrition in the Strip.

When malnutrition combines with disease and lack of health care, as is happening in the Gaza Strip, the youngest are at great risk of acute infections, which further endanger their lives. The WHO has recorded over 296 thousand cases of diarrhea, a third of which were in children under 5.