UN court puts Israel on trial for barring Gaza aid

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar excoriates the United Nations as UN court holds hearing on permissibility of IDF maintaining siege on the Gaza Strip.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

The chief judicial organ of the United Nations convened for a hearing Monday on Israel’s ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip, focusing on the blockade barring the entry of humanitarian aid to the coastal enclave, as part of the IDF’s war against the Hamas terror organization.

The International Court of Justice at The Hague kicked off a week of hearings into the matter Monday morning, in response to a vote by the United Nations General Assembly, tasking the court with forming an advisory opinion on Israel’s ban on the entry of goods into Gaza.

Following the collapse of the ceasefire agreement on March 2nd, Israel has halted the transfer of aid to the Gaza Strip, demanding Hamas first agree to resume the handover of Israeli hostages, 59 of whom remain in Gaza.

Prior to that, in December, the UN General Assembly voted, with the backing of 137 member states, to request a ruling from the UN’s top court regarding whether Israel is obliged to facilitate aid to Gazans, and if so, to what degree.

Last week, the foreign ministries of German, France, and Britain issued a joint call for Israel to resume aid shipments to Gaza.

While the U.S. voted against the December General Assembly measure, on Friday, President Donald Trump said that he had urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resume the aid transfers.

During Monday’s hearing, a representative of the Palestinian Authority accused Israeli soldiers of intentionally killing aid workers in the Gaza Strip, and carrying out a campaign of “systematic persecution and delegitimization” against Gazans.

Ammar Hijazi, who represents the PA in the Netherlands, said the ban on aid transfers to Gaza is part of a larger pattern of abuse.

“Israel is starving, killing and displacing Palestinians while also targeting and blocking humanitarian organizations trying to save their lives.”

Israel refused to send representatives to address the hearing, with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar castigating the United Nations in a statement Monday.

“Israel will not take part in this circus,” Sa’ar said. “It is the UN and UNRWA that should be on trial today. The UN has become a rotten, anti-Israel and antisemitic body.”

“At this very moment, the International Court of Justice is beginning deliberations in another shameful proceeding against Israel.”

“It is another attempt to politicize and abuse the legal process to persecute Israel. The goal is to deprive Israel of its most basic right to defend itself. It is not Israel that should be on trial.”