Russia slams Israel at ICJ, calls Gaza blockade a ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ (2025)

Russia has told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Israel’s actions in the occupied Palestinian territory are leading to a “crisis of legality and humanity”, Al Jazeera reports.

“Today, we confront the crisis of legality and humanity in light of systematic undermining of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) by Israel and its negligence towards the overall obligations under international law, including those stemming from the status of Israel as an occupying power”, said Maksim Musikhin, speaking on behalf of Russia.

“The urgency of this matter cannot be overstated. Gaza balances on the brink of famine. Hospitals lie in ruins.”

Musikhin warned that with Israel’s total blockade since March 2 and resumed military operations, Gaza continues to endure devastating destruction and a “humanitarian catastrophe of unprecedented scale”.

A 13-year-old child was wounded by Israeli gunfire during a military raid in the town of al-Yamoun, located west of Jenin, the Wafa news agency reported.

Citing the Palestinian Red Crescent, Wafa said the child sustained injuries to their hand and foot.

Al Jazeera Arabic reports that Palestinians have been wounded in an Israeli drone attack in the Tuffah neighbourhood, east of Gaza City.

Earlier, Al Jazeera had reported that an Israeli drone killed a man in the Shujayea neighbourhood of eastern Gaza City.

Families in Gaza are starving as food and supplies sit just across the border and prices inside the enclave have skyrocketed more than 500 percent, says Mercy Corp, Al Jazeera reports.

Unless borders open immediately, the NGO warned of the total collapse of Gaza’s food systems.

“We’ve had to ration our meals drastically. One day, we eat plain rice – three times a day. The next day, only canned food. The day after, maybe pasta,” said Saleem, one of their team members on the ground.

“Families are rationing bread to the extreme: each person gets one piece a day- they choose whether to eat it all at once or split it across three meals.

“In short, this is the harshest phase of the war so far. And the hunger is only getting worse – more severe and more deadly with each passing day.”

The United States has said at a World Court hearing in The Hague that Israel cannot be forced to allow the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA to operate in Gaza, Reuters reports.

At the third day of hearings on the matter, the US said Israel had the right to determine which organisations could provide basic needs to the population of the occupied Palestinian territories.

“An occupational power retains a margin of appreciation concerning which relief schemes to permit,” US State Department legal adviser Joshua Simmons said.

“Even if an organisation offering relief is an impartial humanitarian organisation, and even if it is a major actor, occupation law does not compel an occupational power to allow and facilitate that specific actor’s relief operations.”

Simmons also stressed the “serious concerns” Israel has about UNRWA’s impartiality.

At least 35 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to the enclave’s health ministry, Al Jazeera reports.

At least 109 people were also wounded in that period, the ministry added.

The death toll in Gaza rose to 52,400 killed, with 118,014 wounded, since October 7, 2023, it added.

Israel has killed at least 2,308 Palestinians and wounded 5,973 since it broke the ceasefire on March 18, according to the ministry.

A new Swiss law banning Hamas and related organisations will come into force on May 15, the government has said, aiming to prevent the Palestinian militant group from using Switzerland as a safe haven by making entry bans or expulsions easier to arrange, Reuters reports.

The law, which was approved by parliament last December and came in the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, gives Swiss authorities “the necessary tools to take action against Hamas activities or support for the organisation in Switzerland,” the government said.

The Swiss law enables preventive police measures such as entry bans or expulsions, and also makes it more difficult for Hamas to use Switzerland as a financial hub for its activities.

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reports on the Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip.

“Once again, we see air strikes light up the sky across Gaza where residents scramble for cover as massive explosions rocked entire residential buildings in the central and northern part of the Strip,” Mahmoud said.

The reporter added that in the central part alone, the Nuseirat refugee camp was under heavy Israeli bombardment last night with three separate attacks hitting residential buildings while people were still inside.

“Those who survived the attack described it as an earthquake that shattered the entire building. In one building, eight people were killed in a single attack,” he said, adding, “Emergency workers are still looking for more. The number of people killed is expected to rise as more family members are still looking for their loved ones.”

The reporter added that in two other attacks, six people were killed, all from the same family, while in the north, more apartments have been reduced to rubble due to the heavy artillery and airstrikes. Three family members were killed in Jabalia town, which has been relentlessly bombed since Israeli forces violated a ceasefire. A fisherman in Gaza City was killed as he was pulling his boat into the water early this morning.

“Meanwhile, hospitals are really overwhelmed by the large influx of patients and injuries. Medical staff warn there are many more dying quietly inside emergency wards of the remaining health facilities due to the shortage of medical supplies. Medications as simple as painkillers are not available.

“And as we report right now, we can hear the sound of systematic demolition of homes in Gaza City’s eastern part of the Shujayea neighbourhood, which used to be a vibrant, densely populated area. Now, it has turned into a vast field of rubble,” the reporter added.

A US official has told the International Court of Justice there were “serious concerns” about the impartiality of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, AFP reports.

“There are serious concerns about UNRWA’s impartiality, including information that Hamas has used UNRWA facilities and that UNRWA staff participated in the October 7th terrorist attack against Israel,” said Josh Simmons from the US State Department legal team.

Israel is not participating at the ICJ but has dismissed the hearings as “part of the systematic persecution and delegitimisation” of the country.

Simmons told the judges that Israel has “ample grounds” to question UNRWA’s impartiality.

“Given these concerns, it is clear that Israel has no obligation to permit UNRWA specifically to provide humanitarian assistance,” he said.

“UNRWA is not the only option for providing humanitarian assistance in Gaza,” he added.

Hamas has released a statement on the situation in Gaza before International Workers’ Day.

Al Jazeera has their translated comments:

• The suffering of Palestinian workers is part of the tragedy our people are experiencing as a result of the occupation, which has continued for more than seven decades and has been escalating for more than 18 months.
• The [Israeli] occupation’s crimes against Palestinian workers are systematic crimes aimed at disrupting all aspects of human life, in flagrant violation of all international laws and conventions.
• We reiterate our rejection of all forms of targeting of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees by the occupation and its supporters.
• We specifically call on labour unions in the transport and port sectors to escalate the boycott of Zionist and international shipping companies involved in supporting the occupation and supplying it with weapons used to kill civilians and commit crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing against our people.

Al Jazeera is reporting that Israel’s continued attacks have killed at least 21 Palestinians in Gaza since the early hours of this morning, as per medical sources.

Five Palestinians have been arrested after Israeli forces stormed the towns of Anabta and Faroun in Tulkarem, the Wafa news agency is reporting.

According to local sources who spoke to Wafa, four people were arrested in Anabta, east of Tulkarem, and one from his home in Faroun town, south of Tulkarem.

Today, the International Court of Justice will hold a third day of hearings at The Hague on Israel’s humanitarian obligations to Palestinians, Al Jazeera reports.

We can expect the tone to be different compared with the past two days as representatives of the only two countries likely to defend Israel — the US and Hungary — will be speaking. Last year, the two nations voted against a UN General Assembly’s request asking the ICJ to assess Israel’s responsibility to ensure the provision of essential supplies to Gaza. The vast majority voted in favour.

On Monday, day one of the hearings, judges gave ample time to Palestine to present its argument. On day two, nine countries presented their positions, each getting 30 minutes.

It started with South Africa, which has turned into one of the staunchest defenders of Palestine in the past years. In 2023, it brought a genocide case against Israel at the ICJ. Hearings will go on for two more days.

While no immediate ruling is expected, the court’s advisory opinion will likely shape future international legal approaches.

Whatever the court decides, it will be nonbinding, meaning its effect depends on whether states choose to enforce or ignore it.

With Israel’s blockade on food, medicine and other supplies now in its 60th day, people in Gaza are struggling to survive and are adopting coping strategies now stretched to the limit, Al Jazeera reports.

According to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), widespread displacement has forced many people to abandon food supplies and emergency stocks secured during the ceasefire signed in January.

Bread from UN-supported bakeries is no longer available, and most people cannot bake for themselves due to acute shortages of cooking fuel and the soaring cost of wheat flour, the report said.

Families are mixing crushed pasta with flour to make bread, which means smaller and less frequent meals. They are also giving bread to children or allocating just one piece per family member per day, it said.

People must rely on aid supplies as farmers and breeders can’s access their land, as 70 percent of the enclave has been designated as a “no-go” area or is under displacement orders by the Israeli military, the report added.

Christina Markus Lassen, the permanent representative of Denmark to the UN, says they have observed a series of “deeply concerning” developments in Gaza, Al Jazeera reports.

“No humanitarian aid has been allowed into Gaza for almost two months due to the complete humanitarian blockade imposed by Israel, cutting two million people [off] from basic assistance,” she said at an open UN Security Council debate on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question”.

“We condemn any attacks against humanitarian workers, medical staff and healthcare facilities.”

On behalf of Norway, Stine Renate Haheim, state secretary to the minister of international development, said her country was “extremely concerned about the lack of access to critical aid and basic goods in Gaza”.

“Israel has an obligation under international law to provide or otherwise allow access to life-saving assistance for the civilian population and ensure that humanitarian principles are upheld,” she said.

“We condemn all attacks on humanitarian workers. It is crucial that those who risk their lives to save others and to carry out humanitarian work are protected.”

As food supplies in the coastal enclave are running critically low, some families are resorting to eating “whatever they can find”, even if its not safe for consumption, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has said.

“Humanitarian access must be restored,” it said in a post on X.

The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) on Friday said its food stocks in Gaza are completely depleted, as Israel’s weeks-long aid blockade continues.

Al Jazeera is reporting that Israel’s continued attacks have killed at least 16 Palestinians in Gaza since the early hours of this morning.

Some 12 of them were killed in central Gaza, it added.

Harvard University task forces charged with investigating claims of anti-Semitism and anti-Arab and Muslim hate reported that such prejudice had taken root on campus, urging the college to champion the fight against bigotry, reports AFP.

A task force on combating anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and anti-Palestinian bias found “a deep-seated sense of fear among students, staff, and faculty”.

“Muslims, Palestinians, Arab Christians, and others of Arab descent as well as pro-Palestinian allies described a state of uncertainty, abandonment, threat, and isolation, and a pervasive climate of intolerance,” the report said.

Separately, a task force report on anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias said both had “been fomented, practiced, and tolerated not only at Harvard but also within academia more widely.”

Many US universities, including Harvard, cracked down on pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the time, with the Cambridge-based institution placing 23 students on probation and denying degrees to 12 others, according to protest organisers.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has pushed countries to “take irreversible action towards implementing a two-state solution” between Israel and the Palestinians ahead of an international conference in June, Reuters reports.

“I encourage Member States to go beyond affirmations, and to think creatively about the concrete steps they will take to support a viable two-state solution before it is too late,” Guterres told a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East.

France and Saudi Arabia will co-host the conference at the UN in June.

“Our objective is clear: to make progress on the recognition of Palestine and the normalisation of relations with Israel at the same time,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told the Security Council.

“This is how we will be able to guarantee Israel’s security and its regional integration, whilst responding to the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians to have their own state,” he said.

Read more here.

Dozens of local community kitchens in Gaza risk closing down, potentially within days, unless aid is allowed into the Strip, Al Jazeera quotes a Reuters report as saying.

At the Al-Salam Oriental Food community kitchen in Gaza City, Salah Abu Haseera said he is offering what he fears could be one of the last meals for the 20,000 people he and his colleagues serve daily.

“We face huge challenges in keeping going. We may go out of operation within a week, or maybe less,” Abu Haseera told Reuters by phone. These kitchens vary from one-room businesses to regular restaurants.

“We have 70-80 community kitchens still working in Gaza… In four to five days, these community kitchens will close their doors,” Amjad Shawa, the director of the Palestinian NGOs Network (PNGO) in Gaza, told Reuters.

Shawa put the number of operational community kitchens in Gaza before the crossings closed at about 170.

US and British forces have conducted a joint military operation in Yemen, according to Britain’s Ministry of Defence, which said the operation was against a Houthi military target responsible for making drones like those used to attack shipping, Reuters reports.

The British statement said intelligence analysis identified a cluster of buildings located some 24km)south of Yemen’s capital Sanaa that the Houthis allegedly used to manufacture drones of the type used to attack ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. It did not mention details about any casualties.

The strike was conducted after dark, when the likelihood of any civilians being in the area was reduced, the British statement said, adding that its aircraft returned safely. There was no immediate US military comment.

President Donald Trump ordered the intensification of US strikes on Yemen last month. Britain and the US have also previously conducted joint operations and strikes in Yemen.

Medical workers in Gaza say children are suffering from widespread malnutrition, Al Jazeera reports.

Ziyad Majaida, a paediatrician in Khan Younis, told The Associated Press that children need 1g to 2g of protein for each kilogramme they weigh each day from foods such as meat, eggs, dairy and fish.

“Of course, these things are unfortunately unavailable due to the closure of the crossings for more than two months,” he said.

The international humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, says a decision from the International Court of Justice will take significant time, which the people in blockaded Gaza do not have, Al Jazeera reports.

“Waiting for any kind of legal recourse to end Israel’s intentional choking of aid, food and medicine into Gaza will condemn yet more Palestinians to avoidable death, while the world watches on impassively, doing nothing to avoid this indiscriminate and abhorrent cruelty,” Claire Nicolet, MSF head of emergencies, said in a statement.

Nicolet added that the situation in Gaza is “dire on every level” after Israel imposed a total ban on humanitarian aid and supplies on March 2, which is “severely limiting” MSF’s capacity as a humanitarian group to respond in “any meaningful or effective way”.

“States need to do more to pressure Israeli authorities into lifting the siege and letting aid enter the war-torn enclave at scale to prevent more suffering and death,” she said.

UNRWA spokesperson Juliette Touma says that after nearly two months of an Israeli blockade barring the entry of humanitarian supplies into Gaza, the Strip is facing widespread hunger, Al Jazeera reports.

“This siege, just to give context, is four times longer than the siege imposed [by Israel] in the beginning of the war. You may well recall there was a two-week siege period when the war started a year and a half ago. Now we’re speaking of almost two months of tight siege,” Touma said during a press briefing.

“Imagine not having anything to feed your children. Children in Gaza are going to bed starving. The ill and the sick are not able to get medical care because of shortages of supplies in hospitals and clinics, including in UNRWA clinics.”