ICJ rules that Israel can't just starve Palestinians, no matter how much it wants to

When the so-called “ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas began and the Israeli hostages were released, Israel was supposed to open the Rafah crossing and allow 600 trucks of humanitarian aid per day into Gaza. It came as no surprise that Israel refused to open that border, despite initial reports to the contrary.

One of Israel’s excuses for not opening the Rafah Crossing is that Hamas has not returned all of the bodies of the dead hostages: that would be the hostages that Israel killed with its own bombs, hostages that are buried under the rubble.

The World Food Programme recently said only 530 of its trucks have been allowed into Gaza since the ceasefire came into effect, almost two weeks ago. That is about one-third of its target and a tiny fraction of what is needed. (Israel should have let in around 8,000 trucks in accordance with the ceasefire agreement.)

The International Court of Justice has stepped in and ruled that Israel has a legal obligation to ensure the basic needs of the people of Gaza are met. The ruling stated that not only must Israel allow Unrwa into Gaza, it must actively ensure that aid safely reaches Palestinians.

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, did Israel no favours by responding to the ICJ ruling, saying: “UN institutions are breeding grounds for terrorists.” When politicians use the “terrorist” label, it’s always to justify their own crimes against humanity.

Israel banned Unrwa one year ago and later took over its role of distributing aid, letting almost nothing into Gaza, and shooting at Palestinians who queued for meagre quantities of food.

Israel used the excuse that 10% of Unrwa had been infiltrated by Hamas - a claim that it failed to demonstrate at the ICJ. In other words, Israel was talking out of its rear-end again. The ICJ ruled that Israel’s ban on Unrwa was unlawful because there was no evidence that Unrwa’s neutrality had been compromised. It reiterated that Israel has responsibilities to civilians as an occupying power.

Unsurprisingly, Israel rejected the court’s findings, insisting they were based on “false information”, but much of the ruling was based on what Israel has openly admitted! So what exactly is this “false information”? Is Israel claiming it is letting 600 trucks of aid a day into Gaza? Or is it saying that it doesn’t have to, despite the ceasefire agreement?

Well, actually, Israel says it is allowing 750 tons of humanitarian aid a day into Gaza (the UN says 560 tons). One truck carries roughly 20-30 tons of aid, so by Israel’s own admission, it is way short of the 600 trucks a day figure which would be 12,000-18,000 tons!

Instead of tackling the arguments head on, Zionists are playing things down by saying the rulings of the ICJ are advisory, but this ignores that they carry enormous legal and political weight, especially at the ICC. UN member states are expected to enforce the advisory rulings of the ICJ to uphold international law. It’s gonna be interesting to see how the British government responds. Is it simply going to ignore the ruling?

Keir Starmer’s excuse for inaction has been that he can’t act until there is a court ruling. That, in itself, is a bullshit argument that flies in the face of international law, but now he doesn’t even have that flimsy excuse. These past few days he has directed plenty of anger at Aston Villa for banning Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, but no anger at Israel for starving civilians. At the time of writing, he has said precisely zero about the ICJ ruling.

After two years of screeching “release the hostages and this all stops”, the hostages are free and a ceasefire has been agreed. Not only has Israel decided a ceasefire means it can keep bombing whoever it likes, it has decided it can keep starving Palestinians. There is absolutely no moral or legal justification for this behaviour. It is just cruelty for cruelty’s sake.

Israel refused to let any aid into Gaza between March and May this year, and at other times, it allowed in quantities that were nowhere near sufficient. Zionists have flipflopped between arguing this blockade was justified because “we’re at war” to denying it took place and pretending the skeletal babies all had some mysterious pre-existing health condition that caused them to waste away.

You will be hard-pressed to find a single Zionist who will accept that a full blockade took place, despite it being official government policy! Those who do accept it took place, invariably excuse it. This shows just how evil Zionism is.

Zionists have spent two years insisting they don’t have a responsibility to feed people they are at war with. This was an interesting argument because it admitted two things: that Israel was/is at war with civilians and was/is intentionally starving those civilians. That’s two acts of genocide right there, but remember, the ICJ’s ruling is based on “false information” so it’s fine.

Israel’s justification was that it had to block the aid to pressure Hamas, which is a clear admission of collective punishment. The ICJ actually had to explain that Israel is not allowed to use starvation as a weapon of warfare. You would think The Only Democracy in the Middle East™ would understand this, wouldn’t you?

Honestly, it’s amazing how the The World’s Most Moral Army™ keeps admitting to its acts of genocide without any sense of self-awareness and then acts offended when you point those admissions out.

Israel’s sense of superiority is so ingrained, Zionist don’t even see their genocidal actions as crimes. Israel’s position is no longer that these genocidal actions haven’t taken place, it’s that they don’t count as genocidal when Israelis do them. It’s mind-blowing that they think the world’s highest court should accept that Israel is above the law.

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