Representatives from 40 countries and four international organizations are expected to present oral submissions during the proceedings.
Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip have been described as not just “inhumane” but “genocidal” by the legal representative for Palestine on the first day of public hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague on Monday.
The hearings will address a request for an advisory opinion on “the obligations of Israel in relation to the Presence and Activities of the United Nations, Other International Organizations, and Third States in and in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the court said earlier.
Ms. Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh KC, Counsel of the State of Palestine at the ICJ hearing:
“Israel’s actions are not just murderous and inhumane, they are genocidal acts, as the United Nations Commission of Inquiry and others have concluded , and as is the near consensus view across the… pic.twitter.com/fY1v8tKH6F
— Palestine in NL (@PalMissionNL) April 28, 2025
“Israel’s acts are not just murderous and inhumane, they are genocidal, as the United Nations Commission of Inquiry and others have concluded, and as is the near consensus view across the human rights community,” Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh KC, Counsel of the State of Palestine, told the court in her presentation.
She said while the determination of Israel’s international responsibility for genocide is a subject for other proceedings before the Court, “the risk to the right of Palestinians to be protected from acts of genocide is at issue in these proceedings.”
Ghrálaigh said that “there exists a real and imminent risk of irreparable prejudice to the right of Palestinians to be protected from acts of genocide, and that Israel must ensure humanitarian aid and basic services in that situation.”
Obligations on Member States
Ghrálaigh pointed out that “despite Israel’s objections, there is nothing to prevent the court advising on the obligations flowing from that situation in these proceedings.”
LIVE: ICJ begins hearings on Israel’s humanitarian obligations
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) April 28, 2025
“In the context of what UNRWA’s Commissioner General has called, I quote, ‘one of the darkest times for our common humanity that we vowed would not happen again,’ end quote, the Court might well consider it particularly important to remind all states again, as it did a year ago in Nicaragua versus Germany, of their international obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, as well as under other binding rules of international law,” Ghrálaigh stressed.
The UN’s legal counsel, Elinor Hammarskjold, said that in the specific context of the current situation in the occupied Palestinian Territories, Israel’s obligations “entail allowing all relevant UN entities to carry out activities for the benefit of the local population.”
‘Weapon of War’
Top Palestinian official Ammar Hijazi told the Court that Israel was using humanitarian aid as “a weapon of war” amidst its blockade of any aid being allowed into Gaza since March 2.
Hijazi said, “Nine of every 10 Palestinians have no access to safe drinking water,” adding that storage facilities of the UN and other international agencies “are empty.”
“These are the facts. Starvation is here. Humanitarian aid is being used as a weapon of war,” he stated.
Ambassador Ammar Hijazi at the ICJ hearings:
“This legal and moral crisis is not merely 18 months old. Israel has been systemically dispossessing, uprooting, slaughtering, and imprisoning Palestinians in absolute, flagrant disregard for international law and the inalienable… pic.twitter.com/CRA8UIAwTV
— Palestine in NL (@PalMissionNL) April 28, 2025
Representatives from 40 countries and four international organizations are expected to present oral submissions during the proceedings. Among the participating countries are Türkiye, Malaysia, South Africa, China, Russia, Spain, Ireland, Brazil, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.
Key organizations, including the UN, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Arab League, will also contribute.
Israel, which is among the countries that submitted written statements, will not make an oral submission during the hearings.
Israel Accuses ICJ of Antisemitism
Gideon Sa’ar, the Israeli foreign minister, accused the ICJ on Monday of anti-semitism, stressing it will not attend the hearings, according to the Anadolu news agency.
“UN has become a rotten, anti-Israel, and anti-Semitic body,” Sa’ar reportedly said in a statement.
“At this very moment, the International Court of Justice is beginning deliberations in another shameful proceeding against Israel,” he added.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is hearing evidence that Israel has breached its obligations as a UN member by banning and repeatedly bombing UN targets and by cutting off humanitarian aid to Gaza. Al Jazeera’s @soraya_lennie explains. pic.twitter.com/HI4H95cIJ3
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) April 28, 2025
Israel has closed Gaza’s border crossings to all humanitarian aid, including water, food, and medical supplies, triggering a deepening humanitarian disaster.
The country also faces a genocide case at the ICJ for its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, while the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
“I welcome the ICJ hearing on the presence and activities of the United Nations and other organisations in the occupied Palestinian territory.
UNRWA and other agencies are present in the occupied Palestinian territory to address overwhelming needs.
The Agency’s services must… pic.twitter.com/g5hL5A5rIQ
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) April 28, 2025
Staggering Death Toll
Since Israel’s reneging on the ceasefire on March 18, it has killed and wounded thousands of Palestinians throughout the Gaza Strip through a bloody and ongoing aerial bombardment.
On October 7, 2023, following a Palestinian Resistance operation in southern Israel, the Israeli military launched a genocidal war against the Palestinians, killing over 51,000, wounding more than 116,000, with over 14,000 still missing.
LIVE BLOG: Day 570
Israeli forces escalate attacks across Gaza, killing scores. A US airstrike kills dozens of migrants in Yemen.
Meanwhile, the ICJ opens hearings on Israel’s obligations under international law.
Follow updates in real time.
https://t.co/wKBhnAl4yj pic.twitter.com/M5LVNGSwzn
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) April 28, 2025
Despite habitual condemnation by many countries around the world of the Israeli genocide, little has been done to hold Israel accountable.
Israel is currently under investigation for the crime of genocide by the International Court of Justice, while accused war criminals — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — are now officially wanted by the International Criminal Court.
The Israeli genocide has been largely defended, supported, and financed by Washington and a few other Western powers.
(PC, Anadolu)
What will it take to stop the pussy footing around and do something to hold Israel totally accountable for this genocide. Israel’s guilt tripping the world over the Holocaust needs to cease ASAP! Israel is not a victim State. Zionism is a vile political ideology that always had the intention to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians of their land and history. As a settler colonial project it is supported totally by the US, another settler colonial ideology and project also based on ethnically cleansing the Native people. The consequences of that holocaust are still with us today with Native Americans suffering great poverty and illness, still fighting for their own survival.
The judges should rule from the bench, so overwhelming the evidence is. Further delay is unacceptable.
Gideon Sa’ar should seriously consider becoming a stand-up comic – look at all the repertoire he can call on! He’s on an arc to out-comic Comical Ali! By claiming discussions about Israel’s behaviour and policies are “antisemitic”, he is in effect saying that policies have human rights. “Confusing policies with people” is a policy in itself – I’ll believe he’s serious about his claims when he dates “confusing policies with people” and pictures of him kissing the policy fill the gossip press.