Is Israel undermining international law with UNRWA ban?
image: Emad El Byed on Unsplash
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has commenced hearings on Israel’s ban on UN organisation UNRWA. Larissa van den Herik, Professor of Public International Law, commented on news programma NOS Nieuws.
An advisory opinion on the case was requested by the United Nations General Assembly. Four international organisations and lawyers from more than 40 countries are also backing the claim that the ban is a breach of the UN charter. UNRWA provides essential aid and is the final source of assistance to Palestinian refugees in Gaza. Israel has justified the ban by accusing Hamas of infiltrating UNRWA, but so far no conclusive proof of this has been provided. The ban is an attempt by Israel to get the remaining hostages released.
‘Israel is a signatory to the UN charter on immunity of a UN body and has therefore committed itself to implementing the court’s advisory orders. Whether it will do so remains to be seen’, says Van den Herik. The outcome of the ICJ opinion is expected in a couple of months and is not binding. Nevertheless, according to the professor: ‘The issue is reviewed under the rules of the court and those rules are indeed binding, so indirectly it is a binding opinion.’
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Read the full NOS article (in Dutch)