By Global News Service

Credit Line: from the Peoples Dispatch / Globetrotter News Service

Noting that the “catastrophic living conditions of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have deteriorated further,” the International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to take additional measures, including “unhindered provision” of basic necessities and humanitarian assistance, as the Occupation continues its genocidal war for the sixth month.

The ruling was issued on March 28 in response to a request by South Africa calling on the Court to take further action “in light of the new facts and changes in the situation in Gaza—particularly the situation of widespread starvation.”

According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, both North Gaza and Gaza Governorates are “classified in IPC Phase 5 (Famine) with reasonable evidence, with 70 [percent] of the population in IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe).”

On March 24, the head of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) stated that Israel had informed the UN that it would no longer approve the agency’s food convoys to north Gaza. Only 11 aid convoys of the UN’s World Food Program have reached the area since the start of 2024.

In January, Israel accused UNRWA, without any concrete evidence, of employing over 450 “military operatives.” Israel’s allies in the west immediately began suspending funding for the agency, even as it has been revealed that Israel had tortured and coerced UNRWA staffers into giving false confessions. The U.S. Congress has now voted to defund UNRWA as part of a $1.2 trillion spending bill.