UNRWA Chief Accuses Israel of Torturing Staff as US Backs Ban on Agency at World Court

UNRWA Chief Accuses Israel of Torturing Staff as US Backs Ban on Agency at World Court


The ICJ is holding a week of hearings in The Hague, Netherlands following the U.N. General Assembly’s December passage of a Norwegian-led resolution asking the tribunal, which is also known as the World Court, for an advisory opinion on Israel’s legal obligation to “ensure and facilitate the unhindered provision of urgently needed supplies essential to the survival of the Palestinian civilian population.” While Israel’s physical assault on Gaza has killed hundreds of UNRWA workers, its diplomatic war on the U.N. has seen the agency banned from operating in Palestine and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres declared “persona non grata” in Israel after he included Israel on his 2024 “list of shame” of countries and armed groups that kill and injure children during wartime. Responding to the U.S. intervention in this week’s ICJ hearings, Palestinian Ambassador to the Netherlands Ammar Hijazi told Middle East Eye that “everybody knows that Israel is using humanitarian aid as a weapon of war and is starving the population in Gaza because of that.”

Author: Brett Wilkins


Published at: 2025-04-30 22:13:17

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