South Africa today told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Israel is using starvation as a weapon against Palestinians in the occupied territories, breaching its international obligations.
“International law prohibits Israel from the use of starvation as a method of warfare, including under siege or blockade, Israel may not collectively punish the protected Palestinian population, which it holds under unlawful occupation,” South Africa’s representative Jaymion Hendricks said on the second day of public hearings in The Hague.
Hendricks said Israel has “deployed the full range of techniques of hunger and starvation, perfecting the degree of control suffering and death that it can cause through food systems, leading to this moment of genocide, despite the horrific attempts by Israeli officials to characterize them otherwise, Palestinians are human beings.”
He emphasised that Israel “must therefore cooperate in good faith with the United Nations and render it every assistance,” and that it “must comply with its obligations as an occupying power to ensure food and medical suppliers and facilitate the unhindered provision of humanitarian goods, essential services and development assistance by the UN, third states and other international organisations.”
Hendricks also stressed that Israel must “fully seize hostilities” and “immediately reverse its decision to expel UNRWA and other UN bodies from carrying out their mandated activities.”
Turning to the role of the UN, Hendricks said it “must demand and negotiate for the removal of barriers imposed by Israel” and “must continue to render humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people” despite Israeli restrictions.
He further said third states “have an obligation not to recognise Israel’s internationally wrongful acts, including its banning of UNRWA … and to collaborate to bring such acts to an end,” urging them to refrain from providing arms to Israel.
Earlier, South Africa’s Director-General of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation Zane Dangor addressed the court by saying: “The humanitarian aid system is facing total collapse. This collapse is by design.”
Nokukhanya Jele, another South African representative, stressed that “Israel may not impose any measures specifically prohibited by international humanitarian law, such as mass forced displacements, the destruction of property, transferring in of colonial settlers, targeting schools and even targeting the school curriculum to erase the history of the Palestinian people.”
The ICJ, also known as the World Court, was tasked in December to form an advisory opinion on Israel’s obligations to facilitate aid to Palestinians that is delivered by states and international groups, including the United Nations.