Gaza border [Israel], May 1: Israel's total blockade of Gaza has reached its 60th day, as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague holds the third day of hearings on Israel's humanitarian obligations to Palestinians.
No food, water or medical supplies have been allowed into the war-torn Gaza Strip since March 2, days before Israel broke the ceasefire on March 18 to restart the bombardments and ground assaults that have killed more than 52,000 Palestinians in the enclave since October 7, 2023.
The United Nations has warned of "full-scale famine conditions" across the Strip and called for "concerted" action to stop the "humanitarian catastrophe" there.
The UN's World Food Programme says all of its bakeries have shut down and all of its stocks inside Gaza have been fully depleted. According to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), widespread forced displacement has forced many people to abandon food supplies and emergency stocks secured during the ceasefire signed in January.
People are also forced to rely on aid supplies as farmers and breeders cannot access their land, as 70 percent of the enclave has been designated as a "no-go" area or is under displacement orders by the Israeli military, the report added.
The remaining soup kitchens in Gaza say they may have to shut down within days unless aid is allowed in.
As a result, some families are resorting to eating "whatever they can find", even if it is not safe for consumption, according to the UN agency for Palestinians, UNRWA.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the WFP told Al Jazeera Arabic that "aid trucks [are] stuck at the border waiting to enter Gaza".
Meanwhile, in The Hague, the top court of the United Nations was holding a third day of hearings on what Israel must do to provide humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, following a request for an advisory opinion from the UN General Assembly last year.
The United States defended Israel on Wednesday, saying that while it must provide aid to Gaza, it does not have to work with UNRWA. Israel banned the agency from operating on its territory in January, after alleging that 19 out of approximately 13,000 staff took part in Hamas' attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Josh Simmons, a legal adviser from the US State Department, argued there was "no legal requirement that an occupying power permit a specific third state or international organisation to conduct activity that would compromise its security interests."
Source: Qatar Tribune
