WATCH: International Court of Justice opens hearings on Israel’s aid obligations to Palestinians

The UN’s top court opens a week of hearings on Israel’s humanitarian obligations toward Palestinians, more than 50 days into its blockade on aid entering war-ravaged Gaza.

The hearings can be watched here:

The UN’s General Assembly approved a resolution in December asking the ICJ for an advisory opinion on the matter “on a priority basis and with the utmost urgency.”

The resolution, spearheaded by Norway, was adopted by a large majority.

The UN has asked judges to clarify Israel’s legal obligations toward the UN and its agencies, international organizations or third-party states to “ensure and facilitate the unhindered provision of urgently needed supplies essential to the survival of the Palestinian civilian population.”

Israel strictly controls all inflows of international aid vital for the 2.4 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

It halted aid deliveries to Gaza on March 2 amid the collapse of a ceasefire and hostage release deal. The war in Gaza was sparked by the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion and massacre in southern Israel, in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people and seized 251 as hostages.

US President Donald Trump said Friday that he told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that “we’ve got to be good to Gaza” as he pushed the Israeli premier to get more food and medicine into the Strip.

The revelation of the discussion between Netanyahu and Trump came shortly after the World Food Programme said it had run out of food stocks in Gaza due to the sustained closure of crossings into the enclave.