Israel outraged by ICJ, aid food rots in Rafah, Italy funds UNRWA

Israelis have responded with outrage after judges at the top United Nations court ordered the country to immediately halt its military assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. 

The International Court of Justice on Friday ordered Israel to open the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza to let in aid. Israel, it added, must provide access for investigators and report back on its progress within one month.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that those demanding Israel stop the war were also demanding that it cease to exist, which Israel would not agree to. Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called the order "a moral collapse and a moral disaster" for failing to link the demand to halt fighting to a demand that Hamas free hostages.

The order was handed down a week after it was requested by South Africa as part of its case accusing Israel of violating the Genocide Convention enacted in the wake of the Holocaust. Israel has repeatedly dismissed the case's accusations of genocide as baseless.

An Israeli government spokesman said on the eve of Friday's decision that "no power on Earth will stop Israel from protecting its citizens and going after Hamas in Gaza".

Israel launched its air and ground war on Gaza after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israeli communities, killing around 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. More than 35,000 Palestinians have since been killed in the offensive, Gaza's health ministry says.

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The order was adopted by the panel of 15 international judges in a 13-2 vote, opposed only by judges from Uganda and Israel itself. South Africa hailed the ruling as groundbreaking, while a White House spokesperson said "We've been clear and consistent on our position on Rafah."

The internationally recognized Palestinian Authority said it represented a global consensus that the war must end, although presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said it did not go far enough because it did not halt fighting in other parts of Gaza.

The UK government criticized the ICJ ruling, saying it would strengthen Hamas.

"The reason there isn't a pause in the fighting is because Hamas turned down a very generous hostage deal from Israel. The intervention of these courts - including the ICJ today - will strengthen the view of Hamas that they can hold on to hostages and stay in Gaza," a UK foreign ministry spokesperson said late on Friday. "And if that happens there won't be either peace, or a two-state solution."

Food for Gaza rots in sun as Rafah crossing stays shut

Some of the food supplies waiting to enter the Gaza Strip from Egypt have begun to rot as the Rafah border crossing remains shut to aid deliveries for a third week and people inside the Palestinian territory face worsening hunger.

Rafah was a main entry point for humanitarian relief as well as some commercial supplies before Israel stepped up its military offensive on the Gazan side of the border on May 6 and took control of the crossing from the Palestinian side.

Egyptian officials and sources say humanitarian operations are at risk from military activity and that Israel needs to hand the crossing back to Palestinians before it starts operating again. Egypt is also worried about the risk of Palestinians being displaced from Gaza.

On Friday, Egypt and the U.S. agreed to send aid via Israel's nearby Kerem Shalom crossing until legal arrangements are made to open Rafah from the Palestinian side, the Egyptian presidency said.

That could ease the backlog of aid on the road between the Egyptian side of the crossing and the town of al-Arish, about 45 kilometers west of Rafah and an arrival point for international aid donations, though too late to save some food supplies.

One truck driver, Mahmoud Hussein, said his goods had been loaded on his vehicle for a month, gradually spoiling in the sun. Some of the foodstuffs are being discarded, others sold off cheap.

"Apples, bananas, chicken and cheese, a lot of things have gone rotten, some stuff has been returned and is being sold for a quarter of its price," he said, crouching under his truck for shade.

"I'm sorry to say that the onions we're carrying will at best be eaten by animals because of the worms in them."

Aid deliveries for Gaza through Rafah began in late October, two weeks after the start of the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The flow of relief has often been slowed by Israeli inspections and military activity inside Gaza, aid officials say. Supplies have been stuck in al-Arish or on the road to Rafah, incurring transport and storage fees.

A global hunger monitor has warned of imminent famine in parts of Gaza, home to 2.3 million people.

Italy resumes UNRWA funding in Palestinian aid package

Italy will resume funding for the United Nations' Palestinian relief organization UNRWA as part of a $38 million aid package, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Saturday.

Tajani made the commitment during a meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa who also held talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during his visit to Rome.

Meloni told Mustafa that Italy supported efforts towards a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza, the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and improved humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza, her office said in a statement.

Foreign minister Tajani said five million euros would go to UNRWA projects, with the remainder destined for its "Food for Gaza" initiative.

Italy was one of a number of countries to block aid for UNRWA following accusations by Israel that some of the agency's staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war.

"Italy has decided to resume financing specific projects destined to help Palestinian refugees but only after rigorous checks that guarantee that not one cent risks ending up supporting terrorism," Tajani said.

UNRWA employs 13,000 people in Gaza, running the enclave's schools, its primary healthcare clinics and other social services, and distributing humanitarian aid.

In recent weeks, several countries have resumed funding the agency. Germany said last month it would resume cooperation with UNRWA following a report led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna into UNRWA's procedures for ensuring adherence to principles of neutrality.

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