A top Palestinian official told the United Nations top court on Monday that Israel was blocking humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza as a “weapon of war”.
Kicking off a week of hearings at the International Court of Justice about Israel’s obligations to United Nations aid agencies, Ammar Hijazi told judges: “Starvation is here. Humanitarian aid is being used as a weapon of war.”
The ICJ is holding a week of hearings over Israel’s obligations to the UN, including aid agencies, in war-ravaged Gaza before delivering a non-binding “advisory opinion”.
Dozens of countries and organisations will address the 15-judge panel in a marathon set of hearings.
Israel is not participating in the hearings but its ally the United States will take part on Wednesday.
“All UN-supported bakeries in Gaza have been forced to shut their doors. Nine of every ten Palestinians have no access to safe drinking water,” said Hijazi.
