PNN – The British government warned that Israel’s refusal to cooperate with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and its complete blockade of Gaza are clear violations of the regime’s obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, The UK Foreign Office’s Senior Legal Advisor, speaking at the International Court of Justice during the hearing of the advisory opinion on the Israeli regime’s obligations regarding the presence and activities of the United Nations in occupied Palestine, stated that the regime, as the occupying power, is obliged, under Article 59 of the Geneva Convention, to facilitate the rapid, safe and unconditional transfer of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
In a speech, excerpts of which were published in the British media, Sally Langrisch said: This obligation remains in effect as long as a portion of the population is not adequately provided for. Refusal to negotiate or rejection of relief plans is a clear violation of Article 59. The British government representative emphasized that this commitment is unconditional and that “facilitating relief requires full, rapid and careful cooperation in the implementation of plans, including the provision of means of transportation, warehousing and distribution of aid.”
Langrich went on to defend UNRWA’s legal status as an impartial and humanitarian institution, saying: The British government considers UNRWA to be a neutral and humanitarian organization that is eligible to cooperate in providing relief under Article 59 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
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He also added that the organization also fulfills the concept of “neutrality” and therefore Israel is obligated to cooperate with it. The British representative noted that Israel not only has a duty to allow the entry of food, medicine and other essential aid, but also, under Article 55 of the Geneva Convention, “must ensure, to the extent possible, the security of third-party organizations such as UNRWA operating in the relief process.”
Referring to the complete blockade of Gaza by the Israeli regime since March 2, he considered this action contrary to the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law and recalled that depriving two million people of food, water, medicine, and other basic needs cannot be legally justified under any circumstances.
The British representative’s statements in support of UNRWA and requiring Israel to cooperate were in clear contradiction with the positions of the American representative in the same court the previous day, who had questioned the legitimacy of UNRWA, and are considered a sign of the rift on the Western front regarding the Zionist regime’s actions in Gaza.
Washington and Tel Aviv claim that UNRWA is not impartial and that cooperation with it is not required under the Geneva Convention; this claim was rejected by more than 40 countries participating in the meeting and international institutions have also considered it to have no legal basis.
The International Court of Justice has been tasked with providing an advisory opinion on Israel’s legal responsibilities towards the occupied territories, particularly Gaza, at the request of the UN General Assembly. Although the court’s ruling is not binding, it could provide important legal support for diplomatic pressure on the Zionist regime.