• ICJ calls on Tel Aviv to cooperate with UNRWA
• US VP seeks to reassure Israel on Trump’s peace plan
• Israeli parliament gives initial nod to bill calling for annexation of occupied West Bank

THE HAGUE / WASHINGTON: The International Court of Justice, in an advisory opinion on Wednesday, said that Israel is under the obligation to ensure the basic needs of the civilian population in Gaza are met.

The panel of 11 judges said Tel Aviv has to support relief efforts provided by the United Nations in the Gaza Strip, and UN entities, including UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Israel did not take part in the proceedings and hit back at the findings, calling it “entirely predictable from the outset”.

“As an occupying power, Israel is obliged to ensure the basic needs of the local population, including the supplies essential for their survival,” presiding judge Yuji Iwasawa said. He added that basic needs include food, water, shelter, fuel and medical services.

Advisory opinions of the ICJ, also known as the World Court, carry legal and political weight, but they are not binding and the court has no enforcement power.

The UN had asked the ICJ to clarify Israel’s obligations, as an occupying power, towards UN and other bodies “including to ensure and facilitate the unhindered provision of urgently needed supplies essential to the survival” of Palestinians.

ICJ judges heard a week of evidence in April from dozens of nations and organisations, much of which revolved around the status of UNRWA. The ICJ noted that UNRWA “cannot be replaced on short notice without a proper transition plan”.

This case was separate from the others Israel faces under international law over its Gaza campaign.

In July 2024, the ICJ issued another advisory opinion stating that Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories was “unlawful” and must end as soon as possible.

ICJ judges are also weighing accusations, brought by South Africa, that Israel has broken the 1948 UN Genocide Convention with its actions in Gaza.

Another court in The Hague, the International Criminal Court, has issued arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Within hours of the ruling, Norway said it would propose a UN General Assembly resolution demanding that Israel lift restrictions on Gaza aid.

Peace plan

Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance has warned that the US and its allies face a tough task disarming Hamas and building a peaceful future for Gaza, as Washington sought to reassure Israel over the next steps in its ambitious ceasefire deal.

Vance met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the second day of a trip to Israel, part of a diplomatic blitz in support of the US-brokered plan to end the fighting, and eventually, rebuild the devastated Palestinian territory.

Washington’s top diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is due in Israel on Thursday and will meet Netanyahu on Friday, an Israeli government spokeswoman said.

Vance pointed to the “international security force” as one of the bodies that would have to be set up.

The US vice president also championed the Gaza deal’s role as a “critical piece in unlocking the Abraham Accords” — a Trump administration plan to normalise relations between Israel and the Arab world.

West Bank annexation

Separately, a bill applying Israeli law to the occupied West Bank, a move tantamount to annexation of land which Palestinians want for a state, won preliminary approval from Israel’s parliament on Wednesday.

The vote was the first of four needed to pass the law, coming just a month after Trump said that he would not allow Israel to annex the West Bank.

Some members in Netanyahu’s coalition — from National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism faction - voted in favour of the bill, which would require a lengthy legislative process to ultimately pass.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2025