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(Second column, 10th story, link)
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The International Court of Justice ruled Wednesday that Israel, as an occupying power, must allow United Nations humanitarian aid into Gaza and may not use starvation as a method of warfare. In its advisory opinion, the World Court also found that Israel had failed to provide evidence for its claims that UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, lacks neutrality or that a significant number of its staff are affiliated with Hamas. Israel denounced the ruling and said it would not comply with the court's instructions. The Trump administration also condemned the opinion.
"The opinion is unambiguous. It's an opinion by the highest legal authority of the U.N.," says UNRWA spokesperson Tamara Alrifai, speaking to Democracy Now! from Amman, Jordan. She adds that for the Trump-backed ceasefire to succeed, aid groups must have unrestricted access to Gaza and be allowed to "flood" the territory with food and other basic supplies.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio is the latest top U.S. official to visit Israel as part of a push to maintain the Gaza ceasefire. Reports suggest the Trump administration is worried about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu undermining the agreement, with the U.S. visits dubbed "Bibi-sitting" missions to prevent any sabotage. Meanwhile, lawmakers in the Knesset have advanced a bill to apply Israeli sovereignty to all illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank — a move that would effectively annex the territory and kill already dim hopes for a future Palestinian state on that land.
For more on the state of the Gaza ceasefire and the future of Palestine, we speak with Robert Malley, co-author with Hussein Agha of the new book Tomorrow Is Yesterday: Life, Death, and the Pursuit of Peace in Israel/Palestine. Malley is a veteran negotiator involved in previous U.S.-backed peace talks between Israel and Palestinian leadership. He says despite the many flaws in the Trump plan, including "deciding everything for Palestinians without Palestinians having a voice," it has at least halted the worst of the violence. He also notes the "double standard" in how all U.S. administrations have dealt with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as "the search for a two-state solution became a gimmick" while the U.S. allowed Israel to entrench its occupation.
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