Human Rights Watch Accuses Israel of Blocking Aid to Gaza

Human Rights Watch accused the Israeli government on Monday of blocking aid to the Gaza strip in violation of orders from the Hague, the U.N.’s highest ranking court. 

“The Israeli government has simply ignored the court’s ruling, and in some ways even intensified its repression, including further blocking lifesaving aid,” Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch, said in a press release.

In its Jan. 26 ruling on a genocide case brought forth by South Africa in January, the Hague ordered Israel to “take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.” 

However, in the month since the order was issued, the average number of aid trucks entering Gaza has decreased by 30%, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

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Last week, the World Food Programme said that it was forced to suspend aid truck deliveries to Northern Gaza due to unsafe delivery conditions. The World Food Programme said that many desperate and hungry people attempted to climb onto one of its aid trucks and one delivery driver was badly beaten. Approximately 300,000 people in Northern Gaza relied on aid for life saving nutrition. 
Israel has denied restricting the entry of aid into Gaza, and instead says it is the fault of humanitarian organizations operating inside Gaza that the aid has not been distributed. It claims that hundreds of trucks sit idly on the Palestinian side of the crossing. The U.N. has stated that it cannot always reach these trucks because the situation is too dangerous. On Monday, Netanyahu’s office also stated that the Israeli War Cabinet had approved a humanitarian plan that would help prevent looting of aid trucks in Gaza.