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- “The ICJ order is a legal obligation to end the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza," 12 rights groups said in an open letter
LONDON: Israel’s main human rights groups have joined forces to condemn the country for failing to comply with an International Court of Justice provisional ruling which mandated it to ensure the provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza, the Guardian reported on Monday.
The court imposed several legal requirements on Israel following its decision in late January.
It came in response to South Africa’s complaint accusing Israel of committing genocide in its military assault on the besieged Strip, which has left 31,045 Palestinians dead, most of them women and children.
The ICJ’s requirements included preventing deliberate harm to civilians, facilitating immediate humanitarian aid to Gaza, prohibiting and punishing direct or public incitement to genocide, and documenting evidence of any wrongful acts committed during the war.
In an open letter, the 12 rights groups pointed out that Israel was legally bound to implement the measures ordered but had failed to do so.
The letter’s signatories included Breaking the Silence, a group of Israeli military veterans opposed to the occupation, and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
The letter said: “The ICJ order is a legal obligation to end the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. It must be abided by, not only to ease the urgent suffering of civilians but for the sake of humanity as a whole.
“As members of Israel-based civil society committed to human rights and the rule of law, we condemn the fact that Israel has so far failed to change its behavior based on the measures imposed by the ICJ, as well as the fact that humanitarian aid to Gaza dropped by 50 percent in the month following the ruling.”
Amnesty International warned that Gaza’s 2.4 million population was on the “brink of famine.”
On Sunday, aid packages were parachuted into northern Gaza from Jordanian, American, French, Belgian, and Egyptian planes but the UN’s aid coordinator for the area said boosting supply by land was the best way to get assistance to the territory’s people.
A Spanish charity ship carrying food aid on Monday prepared to sail from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip. Officials from the non-governmental organization Open Arms revealed that the boat would be carrying 200 tonnes of food, which US charity World Central Kitchen would then offload on Gaza’s shores.
Meanwhile, the open letter called for an immediate ceasefire that included “the return of the hostages.”
It added: “We urge the Israeli government to comply with the ICJ order and implement the court’s provisional measures, which are essential to mitigating and overcoming the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
“Moreover, we call on the international community to use its collective influence to promote and support an immediate ceasefire and the implementation of the provisional measures, and to increase its efforts to ensure that the Israeli hostages are returned from Gaza.”