The International Court of Justice (ICJ) must demand that Israel stop the starvation of Palestinians in Gaza by issuing additional provisional measures in the genocide case it is adjudicating, South Africa told the international tribunal on Wednesday.
“Palestinian children are starving to death as the direct result of the deliberate acts and omissions of Israel,” South Africa said in its statement to the court.
The ICJ in January already demanded Israel provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza.
Government spokesperson Eylon Levy had, earlier in the day, rejected all claims that Israel was preventing the entry of aid, and blamed Hamas for stealing it and the United Nations for not properly distributing it.
“Israel’s policy is that we want to see aid enter Gaza to reach the people who need it and make sure that Hamas cannot steal it.
Government spokesperson rejects the claims
“That is why the amount of aid going into Gaza has increased, reaching a record 277 trucks just the other day,” Levy said.
Israel has also facilitated “the operation of 20 bakeries inside Gaza… providing two and a half million loaves of bread,” he added.
The trucks entering Gaza have “excess capacity,” he said, and “all nations that want to send food, water, medicine, or shelter equipment should send it.”
The United States and Great Britain, however, in the last days, issued scathing attacks against Israel for not doing enough to prevent Palestinians from starving.
In Washington on Wednesday, US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters that “the situation on the ground right now in Gaza is unacceptable and unsustainable. It cannot continue this way.”