Blocking aid to Gaza may constitute a crime, says ICC prosecutor

The international tribunal has opened an investigation into war crimes amid conflict in the enclave

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  Egyptian Red Crescent Society employees and volunteers handle humanitarian aid bound for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, at a warehouse in Arish, Egypt, 25 October 2023. International mediators continued on 25 October to push for the passage of more aid into Gaza and the exit of foreign nationals fleeing the conflict. The international humanitarian aid convoys are mostly stationed on the road between the town of Arish and the Rafah border crossing 50 km away. Fifty Four aid trucks have so far made their way into the Gaza strip through Egypt's border according to aid organizations, while various UN agencies asked for more to be allowed in, as most of the inhabitants of Gaza have been displaced to the southern part of the strip and lack access to food, electricity and medical supplies. More than 5,500 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis have been killed according to the IDF and Palestinian health ministry, after Hamas militants launched an attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip on 07 October and the Israeli operations in Gaza and the West Bank which followed it. EPA / KHALED ELFIQI

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  Aid is being stored at locations across Arish after filling storage facilities at the airport. EPA

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  Lines of lorries carrying humanitarian aid wait to pass through the Rafah border crossing into Gaza. EPA

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  Egyptian volunteers with cargoes of aid bound for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, at the Rafah border crossing. EPA

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  Egyptian volunteers handle humanitarian aid bound for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, at the Rafah border crossing. EPA

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  Volunteers handle humanitarian aid bound for Gaza, at the Rafah border crossing in Egypt. EPA

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  An RAF C-17 aircraft carrying 21 tonnes of UK humanitarian supplies for Gaza has landed in Egypt. EPA

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  Humanitarian aid bound for Gaza via Egypt being loaded into a military aircraft at Kuwait International Airport. AFP

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  Lorries carrying aid wait to exit on the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. Reuters

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Preventing access to humanitarian aid may constitute a crime, International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan has said after visiting Egypt's Rafah crossing into the Gaza Strip.

The crossing has been the only point of entry for humanitarian relief to get into the Palestinian enclave after Israel imposed a complete blockade in response to the October 7 Hamas attack and embarked on a series of devastating air strikes.

Since limited aid deliveries resumed through the Rafah crossing on October 21, a total of 117 lorries have entered Gaza.

Before the siege, about 500 lorries carrying aid and other goods entered the Palestinian territory daily.

“Impeding relief supplies as provided by the Geneva Conventions may constitute a crime within the court jurisdiction,” Mr Khan said on Sunday evening.

“There should not be any impediment to humanitarian relief supplies going to civilians. They are innocent, they have rights under international laws.”

Mr Khan said he saw lorries full of goods and humanitarian assistance “stuck where nobody needs them, stuck in Egypt, stuck at Rafah”.

He said supplies must get to civilians as soon as possible without any hindrance.

The ICC is carrying out an investigation into crimes committed in the Palestinian territories – “whether it’s by Israel or Palestine or whether it’s acts committed on the territory of Palestine or from Palestine into Israel”.

Mr Khan said he hoped to visit Gaza and Israel in the coming days to underline clearly to Israel that “there must be discernible efforts, without further delay”, to make sure civilians in the Hamas-run territory receive basic food and medicines.

“These are the most tragic of days as the suffering of children and women and men is profound,” he said.

Mr Khan said he was concerned about the increase of reported deaths and injuries in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Israel.

“This must be a moment where we share our humanity and find the common ground together,” he said.

Israel has said 1,400 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the Hamas attacks that set off the war. At least 220 were taken hostage.

Gaza's Health Ministry says more than 8,000 people, including thousands of women and children, have been killed in Israeli air and ground attacks since.

Mr Khan said taking hostages was in breach of the Geneva Conventions.

“I call for the immediate release of all hostages taken from Israel and for their safe return to their families,” he said.

Israel has moral and legal obligations to comply with the laws of conflict, he said.

“We need to separate allegations from facts,” he said, as his team is independently looking into the events in Palestine and Israel.

The ICC has been investigating the actions of both Israeli and Palestinian authorities since 2014.

Mr Khan said the world must reflect on a moment of objectivity and reflection for the world “built on the rubble of World War II, the terrible gas chambers and the Holocaust, the razing of cities throughout Europe, [which] was meant to create institutions that would ensure never again would we see abominations”.