ICJ begins hearings on 'Israel' blocking aid into Gaza

On Monday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) began week-long hearings to assess "Israel’s" obligations under international law, as Gaza’s 2.4 million residents face more than 50 days of Israeli-imposed blockade and the threat of famine. At the first hearing, UN Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and Legal Counsel Elinor Hammarskjöld emphasized that "Israel," as the occupying power, is legally obligated to facilitate humanitarian aid in Gaza; obligations it has failed to meet since cutting off all supplies on March 2. Likewise, Palestinian Ambassador to the International Organization in The Hague, Ammar Hijazi, stressed that the case "is not about the number of air trucks Israel is or is not allowing into the occupied Palestinian territory, especially Gaza" but "about Israel destroying the fundamentals of life in Palestine while it blocks [the] UN and other humanitarians from providing life-saving aid to the population" and turning Gaza into a mass grave.