Ms. Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh KC: State of Palestine Counsel Exposes Israeli Violations at ICJ Hearing
May 1, 2025
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) opened hearings to gauge Israel’s responsibility for the humanitarian crisis engulfing Gaza during its war against Hamas.
The hearings, which began on Monday in The Hague and is running throughout the week, followed a request last year from the United Nations General Assembly asking the court to assess Israel’s responsibility to ensure the provision of essential supplies to Gaza.
Ms. Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh KC, the Counsel of the State of Palestine at the ICJ hearing, stated:
“Israel’s actions are not just murderous and inhumane, they are genocidal acts, as the United Nations Commission of Inquiry and others have concluded , and as is the near consensus view across the human rights community.”
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English Script:
Blinne Ni Ghralaigh: Israel’s prime minister has rejected the court’s authority, asserting that I quote, nobody will stop us, not The Hague, not the axis of evil and not anybody else. Just 12 days ago, its defense minister declared, in defiance of this court’s orders, that, I quote, Israel’s policy is clear and no humanitarian aid is about to enter Gaza. In violation of the court’s order to maintain open land crossing points, in particular, the Rafah crossing previously described by the UN High Commissioner as, quote, the symbolic lifeline for 2.3 million people in Gaza. Israel has closed all crossings and it has turned Rafah itself, once a refuge for almost 1.5 million displaced Palestinians into a post-apocalyptic wasteland. The slide on your screen is reflective of the general tenor of Israeli media, since at least October 2023, shows Rafah devastated with the caption “The annihilation of Rafah is complete”. Alongside an Israeli flag and a flexed bicep. Plans are reportedly underway for Israel to annex 75km² of Rafah, one fifth of Gaza to Israel’s so-called buffer zone, permanently. This, together with Israel’s continuing maritime blockade, cuts Gaza and its people off from direct aid and assistance from the rest of the world in further violation of the court’s orders. Israel continues to block U.N. mandated investigatory bodies from Gaza while destroying and burying evidence of its crimes. Despite the extraordinary efforts of Palestinian journalists who are themselves repeatedly targeted and killed. So much remains undocumented, as stated by UNRWA’s Commissioner General. I quote, I shudder to think of what will still be revealed about the horrors that have taken place in this narrow strip of land.
