Public hearings continue at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague for the fifth consecutive day as the ICJ deliberates on Israel’s obligations toward the United Nations and its agencies operating in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The ICJ launched a week-long series of hearings on Monday, focusing on Israel’s humanitarian responsibilities toward Palestinians.
The proceedings come more than 50 days after Israel imposed a complete blockade on aid shipments to war-torn Gaza.
Throughout the week, 38 countries—including the United States, China, France, Russia, and Saudi Arabia—are presenting arguments, alongside representatives from the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the African Union.
According to the court’s schedule, oral proceedings are set to run from April 28 to May 2, 2025.
A total of 44 countries and four international organizations have expressed their intent to participate in the hearings.
The initiative stems from a resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly last December, following a proposal by Norway.
The resolution calls on the ICJ to issue an advisory opinion outlining Israel’s legal obligations to facilitate the delivery of urgent humanitarian aid to Palestinians and ensure its unrestricted passage.
On Friday, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian man after they surrounded his home in Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank’s northern part.
The Palestinian Civil Affairs Authority informed the Ministry of Health that Israeli forces fatally shot Omar Mustafa Abu Leil, 39, and prevented Palestinian medics from retrieving his body.
On Thursday evening, the Palestinian Health Ministry announced that Israeli forces shot and killed the young man, Alaa Shawkat Ahmad Khdeir, 29, in the town of Beita, south of Nablus.
Since the beginning of the year, Israeli forces have killed 131 Palestinian citizens in the occupied West Bank, including 24 children and 5 women, according to the Shireen Observatory.
Israeli Occupation forces and paramilitary colonizers have killed 55 Palestinians in Jenin, 20 in Tubas, 21 in Nablus, 14 in Tulkarem, 5 in Hebron, 5 in Bethlehem, 4 in Ramallah, 3 in Qalqilia, 2 in Salfit and 3 in Jerusalem.
Since October 7, 2023, Israeli soldiers and paramilitary colonizers have killed 967 Palestinians, including 196 children, 22 women, 16 elders and 1 journalist, in the occupied West Bank.
279 were killed in Jenin governorate, 210 in Tulkarem, 113 in Nablus, 87 in Tubas, 82 in Hebron, 63 in Ramallah and Al-Biereh, 53 in Jerusalem, 36 in Qalqilia, 26 in Bethlehem, 12 in Jericho and Northern Plains, and 6 in Salfit.
On Friday, the 46th day since the resumption of genocide in Gaza, Israeli occupation forces continue to bombard various areas of the devastated coastal enclave, killing and wounding dozens of Palestinians since dawn on Thursday. Gaza is facing an increasingly dire humanitarian crisis, exacerbated by relentless airstrikes, a suffocating siege, and the severe lack of aid supplies.
The Palestinian Health Ministry announced that the death toll in Gaza has surpassed 52,418, the majority of whom are children and women, in addition to thousands who remain under the rubble since October 7, 2023, with emergency and civil defense teams unable to reach them.
More than 118,091 Palestinians, largely children and women have been injured since October 7, while many victims remain trapped beneath the rubble with emergency services unable to reach them.
