ICJ hears more evidence against Israeli ban of UN aid agency in Gaza

Israel has been accused of continuing to act with impunity, the International Court of Justice was told on the second day of a trial that was investigating whether Tel Aviv acted against its obligations when it banned the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency last year.

Zane Dangor, director-general of South Africa's department of international relations and cooperation, said on April 29 that Israel continued to act with impunity and enjoyed some form of "exceptionalism" from accountability to international laws and norms.

The ICJ hearing, which runs until May 2, will examine whether Israel — a signatory to the UN Charter — acted against its obligations when the Israeli parliament, or Knesset, moved to ban the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) last October.

"Under the world's watchful eye, Palestinians are being subjected to atrocity, crimes, persecution, apartheid and genocide. While we watch, the gaze of Palestinians is directed squarely at the international community," said Dangor.

"Any country or entity, which seeks to hold Israel accountable for its inhumane and unlawful actions, is subject to countermeasures and sanctions from which the UN and this court has not been spared," he added.

Further, he said in this context the UN and UNRWA was "one of the latest casualties of Israel" as he cited UNRWA for being attacked to deny the old right of the return of Palestinian refugees, the restitution of their land and homes since 1948 and that the attacks endangered the existence of Palestinians as a group.

Even as the hearing opened in The Hague, the capital of the Netherlands, on April 28, incidents of strikes and civilian casualties were reported. Attacks on homes, and demolitions in both Gaza and the West Bank continued unabated on the second day.

WAFA reported on April 29 that three citizens were killed as a result of Israeli airstrikes on an area east of Gaza City. At a time another citizen was killed in shelling around the Al-Sanafour Junction in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood east of the city.

The hearings are also taking place amid Israel's ongoing blockade that is pushing Gaza to imminent famine.

At Monday's hearing, Palestine's Ambassador to the Netherlands Ammar Hijazi accused Israel of starving, killing, and displacing Palestinians while also targeting and blocking international humanitarian organizations for trying to save lives.

The purpose of the proceedings is to establish an "advisory opinion" on Israel's obligations as the occupying power in Gaza and the wider Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), in line with the UN Charter. But Israel refuses to send representatives on its defense.

UN Legal Counsel Elinor Hammarskjold, who is representing UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, insisted on the special protections and immunities of UN agencies and personnel, which it needs to implement its mandated activities all over the world, including Palestine.

Hammarskjold also noted that 295 UN personnel have died in Gaza since the war began on Oct 7, 2023, following Hamas' surprise attack on Israel.

Embattled UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini took to X to say he welcomed the ICJ hearing on the presence and activities of the UN and other organizations in the OPT.

"The agency's services must continue unobstructed until there is a just and lasting solution to the plight" of Palestinian refugees, said Lazzarini.

He lamented that the "no-contact policy" passed into law by the Knesset last October bans Israeli officials from coordinating or communicating with UNRWA staff, thereby "obstructing the delivery of essential relief services and aid".

Lazzarini said the ban also impacted the visas of the UNRWA's international staff, who could not enter the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, where over 2 million people rely on the agency's services and assistance.

The ICJ hearing is expected to hear from 40 states and four international organizations. A total of 13 UN entities are present in Gaza, according to the UN.

Speaking at the UN on April 28, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said that while UNHCR is not part of the UN response in Gaza, the situation of civilians there was "reaching new levels of desperation by the day".

The World Food Programme (WFP) will cut staff by up to 30 percent as contributions to the global aid agency have dropped, AFP reported.

In a statement coinciding with the start of the ICJ hearings, Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said his country had decided "not to take part in this circus" and accused the UNRWA of being "infiltrated beyond repair by terrorism".

He also argued that the UNRWA should instead be the subject of the ICJ's examination.

The Israeli Prime Minister's office said that Benjamin Netanyahu met with a delegation of dozens of ambassadors to the UN, together with Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon.

"The ambassadors, who represent countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, heard from the prime minister at length about the State of Israel's just struggle in the international arena, on the conduct of the war in Gaza and the efforts for the release of the hostages, and the fight against anti-Semitism," the statement said.

Netanyahu "answered the ambassadors' questions and welcomed them to Israel", calling on them to "convey the truth and justice of Israel to the leadership and public in their countries".

Arhama Siddiqa, a research fellow at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad in Pakistan, told China Daily that the oral submissions by Palestine at the ICJ "mark a pivotal legal challenge to Israel's decades-long occupation".

Importantly, she said the Palestinian delegation emphasized the unified nature of Israel's control across the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, rejecting the artificial territorial fragmentation imposed by past frameworks.

"Israel's absence from the hearings, replaced by a parallel press campaign and a staged meeting between Prime Minister Netanyahu and UN ambassadors, underscores its preference for political maneuvering over legal accountability," said Siddiqa.

"This strategic deflection reveals an unwillingness to confront the mounting legal scrutiny of its actions," she added.

"I believe the proceedings at The Hague reflect a broader international demand for justice and accountability in Palestine.

"In a global climate increasingly attentive to colonial legacies and structural oppression, the Palestinian case resonates far beyond the courtroom. It challenges the international community to uphold the very legal order it claims to defend," Siddiqa said.