The U.S. backs Israel’s ban on the U.N.’s Palestinian aid agency at the World Court

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The United States told the International Court of Justice Wednesday that Israel must provide aid to Gaza, but the country does not have to work with the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.

The top court of the United Nations is holding a week of hearings on what Israel must do to provide desperately needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, following a request for an advisory opinion from the U.N. General Assembly last year.

The U.S. said Israel had legitimate concerns about the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, also known as UNRWA, the largest provider of aid in the beleaguered Gaza Strip.

“In sum, there is no legal requirement that an occupying power permit a specific third state or international organization to conduct activity in occupied territory that would compromise its security interests,” Josh Simmons, a legal advisor from the State Department, told The Hague-based court.

Simmons suggested other organizations could fulfill UNRWA’s mission.

In January, Israel banned the agency from operating on its territory. Israel alleges that 19 out of UNRWA’s approximately 13,000 staff in Gaza took part in Hamas’ attack in southern Israel, which killed about 1,200 people and set off the war in Gaza.

UNRWA said it fired nine staffers after an internal U.N. investigation concluded that they could have been involved, although the evidence was not authenticated or corroborated. Israel later alleged that about 100 other Palestinians in Gaza were Hamas members, but never provided any evidence to the United Nations.

On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar hit back at the case. “I accuse UNRWA, I accuse the U.N., I accuse the secretary-general and I accuse all those that weaponized international law and its institutions in order to deprive the most attacked country in the world, Israel, of its most basic right to defend itself,” he told a news conference in Jerusalem.

Israel is not participating in the hearings, but it did submit written arguments.

The Russian Federation, which spoke directly after the United States, said that UNRWA’s work was crucial for the Palestinian people and the agency was supported by the majority of the international community. “The urgency of this matter cannot be overstated. Gaza balances on the brink of famine. Hospitals lie in the ruins. Millions of Palestinians in the (Gaza) strip, as well as in the West Bank and East Jerusalem face existential despair,” Maksim Musikhin, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the court’s 15 judges.

Musikhin then suggested UNRWA deserved a Nobel Peace Prize for its work.

The hearings are underway as the humanitarian aid system in Gaza is nearing collapse and ceasefire efforts remain deadlocked. Israel has blocked the entry of food, fuel, medicine and other humanitarian supplies since March 2. It renewed its bombardment on March 18, breaking a ceasefire, and seized large parts of the territory, saying it aims to push Hamas to release more hostages.

The World Food Program said last week its food stocks in the Gaza Strip have run out, ending a main source of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Many families are struggling to feed their children.

On Monday, the Palestinian Ambassador to the Netherlands, Ammar Hijazi, accused Israel of breaching international law in the occupied territories.

“Israel is starving, killing and displacing Palestinians while also targeting and blocking humanitarian organizations trying to save their lives,” he told the court.