A senior United Nations official has accused Israel of violating international law by continuing to restrict humanitarian aid into Gaza, where millions remain critically short of food and essential supplies as winter approaches.

Speaking during a visit to Brussels, Natalie Boucly, Deputy Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), urged global powers, including the EU and the United States, to intensify pressure on Israel to allow the unrestricted entry of aid.

Boucly said UNRWA has enough food, tents and emergency items to fill up to 6,000 trucks waiting in Jordan and Egypt. “As winter approaches and famine continues to grip the population, it is critical that all this aid is allowed into Gaza without delay,” she said. “Our supplies could provide food for the entire population for about three months, but they are not being allowed in.”

According to Boucly, only about half of the 500 to 600 daily truckloads needed are entering the territory.

She argued that Israel, as the occupying power, is failing to meet its obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention and a recent advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ruled that Israel must ensure Palestinians have “the essential supplies of daily life” and must cooperate with UNRWA.

The ICJ opinion, issued on October 22, stated there was no evidence to support Israel’s claims that UNRWA is infiltrated by Hamas or that significant numbers of its staff are members of the group.

Israel severed ties with the agency and accused it of facilitating “systematic” misuse of its facilities. The court noted that nine staff members were dismissed over possible involvement in the 7 October attacks but found Israel’s broader allegations unsubstantiated.

Boucly said she has not received any indication that Israel intends to restore contact with the agency.

Boucly warned that the agency is “irreplaceable” and facing a $200m funding shortfall until March, which she discussed with EU officials in Brussels.

“It is not the time for UNRWA to collapse,” she said. “The only reason we’re still here is the collective failure to find a political solution to this conflict.”

Boucly said there was “light” for the first time since the 1993 Oslo Accords that a lasting political settlement may be possible. She urged European governments to apply “a different sort of moral pressure on Israel … that military might will not bring peace.”

Boucly also described a rise in hostility towards UNRWA staff in Israel after the 7 October attacks. She said she had been verbally assaulted, while some colleagues were physically attacked.

She expressed concern that current peacemaking efforts, credited in part to the Trump administration’s mediation, are unfolding outside traditional multilateral structures.

Key details about the proposed US-led “board of peace”, including its membership and mandate, remain unclear. “You have to know where you are sailing,” she said, “otherwise the winds are going to take you to a different destination.”

Children in Gaza have endured two years of extreme trauma. According to figures cited by UNICEF, by early September at least 2,596 children had lost both parents, while more than 53,700 had lost one parent.

Boucly warned that without hope or opportunity, Gaza’s orphans face a bleak future. “Unless you offer something to these kids,” she said, “we cannot exclude another terrorist attack. We cannot exclude armed groups being formed — or much worse.”

The Human Rights also weighed in on the matter.

By restricting or blocking aid from reaching Palestinians in Gaza, Israel continues to flout the ICJ’s binding orders in a separate case brought by South Africa under the UN Genocide Convention, Human Rights Watch said. 

It added that Israeli authorities have not only repeatedly violated their obligations relating to providing aid to Palestinian civilians, but also gunned down hundreds of Palestinians seeking food aid at or near GHF sites, in acts that amount to war crimes. 

But what are the binding or international laws that are being flouted?

The international laws and legal obligations that Israel is alleged or determined to be flouting primarily fall into three categories, according to the sources: binding orders from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), obligations under international humanitarian law, and findings related to the lawfulness of the occupation.

1. International Court of Justice Orders

These binding provisional measures were issued by the ICJ in the case concerning the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel).

The Original Orders (January 26, 2024): The initial order required Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, including killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting life conditions calculated to bring about physical destruction, and preventing births. It also required Israel to take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance.

The Modification and Reinforcement (March 28, 2024): The Court modified its order due to the “exceptionally grave” deterioration of the catastrophic living conditions, noting that famine was setting in and children were dying of malnutrition and dehydration. This worsening situation justified the modification of the measures.

Modified Obligation (Aid): Israel must take all necessary and effective measures to ensure, without delay and in full co-operation with the United Nations, the unhindered provision at scale of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to Palestinians throughout Gaza. This includes increasing the capacity and number of land crossing points and maintaining them open for as long as necessary.

Modified Obligation (Military Action): Israel must ensure with immediate effect that its military does not commit acts that violate the rights of Palestinians under the Genocide Convention, “including by preventing, through any action, the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance”.

Non-Compliance: Human Rights Watch states that Israel continues to flout these binding orders by restricting or blocking aid from reaching Palestinians in Gaza.

2. Violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and War Crimes

The ICJ findings indicate several violations of core principles of international humanitarian law and related criminal acts:

• Unconditional Obligation to Provide Aid: The ICJ asserts that Israel has an “unconditional” obligation as an occupying power under international humanitarian law to ensure the unhindered provision of humanitarian relief (food, medical supplies, clothing) to the civilian population of Gaza.
• Obstruction of UN Functions: Israel’s obstruction of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)’s critical work is at odds with international law. The ICJ underscored that Israel “may not obstruct the functions of the United Nations and must provide every assistance” in actions taken by the Organization, particularly through UNRWA. Two laws approved in the Israeli Knesset have “directly resulted in obstructions to the operations of UNRWA”.
• War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity: The dire humanitarian situation results from Israel’s intentional deprivation of aid and basic services and its alleged use of starvation as a weapon of war, a war crime. Human Rights Watch further concluded that these policies amount to the crime against humanity of extermination.
• Shooting Civilians: Israeli authorities have allegedly “gunned down hundreds of Palestinians seeking food aid” at or near Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, in acts that amount to war crimes.
• Denial of Access to Detention Facilities: Israeli authorities have denied the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to detention facilities since October 2023, despite mounting reports of abuses of Palestinians in detention.

3. Unlawful Occupation and Other Abuses

A separate advisory opinion issued by the ICJ in July 2024 concluded that Israel’s decades-long occupation is unlawful and contravenes Palestinians’ right to self-determination. In the same opinion, the court found that Israel was responsible for apartheid and other serious abuses against Palestinians.

IOL

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