A US official on Wednesday told the International Court of Justice that there were “serious concerns” about the impartiality of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
ICJ judges are holding a week of hearings to help them formulate an advisory opinion on Israel's obligations towards UN agencies delivering aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
“There are serious concerns about UNRWA's impartiality, including information that Hamas has used UNRWA facilities and that UNRWA staff participated in the October 7 terrorist attack against Israel,” said Josh Simmons from the State Department legal team. “Israel has therefore ample grounds to question UNRWA's impartiality.”
About 40 nations and organisations such as the League of Arab States are taking part in the hearings that end on Friday. It will probably take months for the court to issue its advisory opinions. Although not legally binding, the court believes they “carry great legal weight and moral authority”.
Israel is not participating at the ICJ but has dismissed the hearings as “part of the systematic persecution and delegitimisation” of the country. Palestine's UN envoy Riyad Mansour has accused Israel of using the blockade on humanitarian supplies to entrench its occupation of Palestinian land.
Israel strictly controls all inflows of international aid vital for the 2.3 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. It halted aid deliveries to Gaza on March 2, days before the collapse of a ceasefire that had significantly reduced hostilities after 15 months of war.
The status of UNRWA – Israel has banned it from operating on Israeli soil – is central to the hearings. Speaking on Tuesday, Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar reiterated claims that the agency was infiltrated by Hamas – claims that are rejected by the UN.
A series of investigations, including one led by France's former foreign minister Catherine Colonna, found some “neutrality-related issues” at UNRWA but stressed Israel had not provided evidence for its headline allegation.
Mr Simmons however said Israel had “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. UNRWA is not the only option for providing humanitarian assistance in Gaza,” he added. “To be clear, the United States supports the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, with the safeguards to ensure it is not looted or misused by terrorist groups.”
Most countries that have intervened so far, including Palestine and Egypt, have defended the agency. Maksim Musikhin, director of the legal department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, said UNRWA was a symbol of the international community's responsibility towards the Palestinian people.
In Gaza, he said, UNRWA remained the backbone of all humanitarian response. “No organisation can replace or substitute UNWRA's capacity and mandate to serve Palestinian refugees,” Mr Musikhin said.
France's representative Diego Colas called for humanitarian aid to reach Palestinians in Gaza “at massive scale”. “The restrictions on its access should be lifted without delay,” said Mr Colas.
UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said on Tuesday that more than 50 of its staff in Gaza were abused and used as human shields while in Israeli military detention. About 289 have been killed by Israel in Gaza in the past 18 months.
