Israel on Monday boycotted a hearing at the United Nations’ top court on its decision to ban a UN aid agency that has served millions of Palestinians since it was established in 1949.
The hearings will look at Israel’s obligations, both as a member of the United Nations and as an occupying power, toward the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). The aid agency provides education, healthcare and social services to nearly 6 million Palestinian refugees across the Middle East.
The hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which began in The Hague on Monday following a request by the UN General Assembly, are scheduled to last all week, with 40 countries, including the United States, set to speak as part of the proceedings. The ICJ will issue an advisory opinion about Israel’s obligations at a later stage, after the hearings conclude.
The court’s advisory opinions have no binding force, but they carry tremendous significance. They are “often an instrument of preventive diplomacy and help to keep the peace,” according to the court. They also help interpret and shape international law.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called it “another shameful proceeding” designed to delegitimize his country. Speaking at a press conference in Jerusalem in lieu of the hearing on Monday, Sa’ar accused UNRWA of being “an organization that is infested with Hamas terrorists.” He said Israel had submitted its written position but would not take part in “this circus.”
UNRWA has repeatedly denied these accusations in the past, saying there is “absolutely no ground for a blanket description of ‘the institution as a whole’ being ‘totally infiltrated.’”
At the opening of the hearings on Monday, the UN’s legal counsel said Israel had a clear obligation as an occupying force to allow and facilitate humanitarian aid for Gazans.
“In the specific context of the current situation in the occupied Palestinian Territories, these obligations entail allowing all relevant UN entities to carry out activities for the benefit of the local population,” Elinor Hammarskjöld said.
Ammar Hijazi, the Palestinian representative at the hearing, said “there can be no doubt about the court’s jurisdiction in these proceedings,” pointing to two previous ICJ cases involving Israel.
In January 2024, the ICJ ruled that Israel must take “all measures” to prevent a genocide in Gaza. Then in June, it said in an advisory opinion that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza is illegal.
“Israel is starving, killing and displacing Palestinians, while also targeting and blocking humanitarian organizations trying to save their lives,” Hijazi said.
Amir Weissbord, an official with Israel’s foreign ministry, claimed on Monday that “1,462 UNRWA workers in Gaza are confirmed terrorists,” which he said was based on intelligence. Israel has not provided evidence to support the accusation of such a high number. Weissbord said the number would be even higher once Israel began looking into UNRWA’s female employees.
After the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks, Israel alleged that 12 of UNRWA’s 14,000 staffers in Gaza were involved in the assault. A subsequent UN investigation found that nine employees “may have” been involved in the attack. UNRWA said at the time that their contracts had been terminated.
‘Campaign to discredit UNRWA’
In October, Israel’s parliament passed a law banning UNRWA from activity within Israel and revoking the 1967 treaty that allowed the agency to carry out its mission. The ban was expected to severely restrict UNRWA’s ability to operate in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said at the time that the move violated international law and was “the latest in the ongoing campaign to discredit UNRWA and delegitimize its role toward providing human-development assistance and services to Palestine refugees.”
In early April, Israel raided six UNRWA schools in East Jerusalem, ordering them to close within 30 days. Lazzarini promised that the agency would not be cowed by Israel’s actions.
“UNRWA is committed to stay & deliver education and other basic services to Palestine Refugees in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in accordance with the General Assembly resolution mandated to the Agency,” he said on social media.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been pushing to dismantle UNRWA well before the October 7 attacks, arguing that the agency perpetuates the Palestinian “refugee problem.” UNRWA’s definition of Palestinian refugees includes the descendants of those Palestinians who were forced out of their homes during Israel’s creation in 1948. Israeli officials have rejected that definition, arguing that descendants don’t qualify as refugees and thus don’t have the right to return to their ancestral homes in what is now Israel.