Türkiye tells ICJ int'l community 'gravely failed' to stop Israel, accuses Tel Aviv of using hunger as 'weapon'
'Where there is no law enforced to stop Israel, there is chaos, anarchy and mass killings amounting to genocide in Gaza,' deputy foreign minister tells top UN court
Starving in silence: Gaza’s children cry out against Israel’s aid blockade
GENEVA
Türkiye on Wednesday accused Israel of using hunger as a weapon against civilians in Gaza during the International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearings and said the international community has "gravely failed" to prevent widespread destruction and loss of life.
"The international community has gravely failed to halt the Israeli aggression and loss of tens of thousands of innocent lives in Gaza, mostly women and children," said Nuh Yılmaz, Türkiye’s deputy minister for foreign affairs.
Yılmaz said the reason for Türkiye's appearance before the court is Israel's "sustained breach of its international obligations," adding that a war of "unprecedented scale" is being waged against civilians in Gaza, spilling into the West Bank and neighboring countries.
He accused Israel of using "hunger as a weapon" and "collective punishment," as Tel Aviv has closed Gaza’s crossings, blocking essential supplies from entering the enclave since March 2.
"Where there is no law enforced to stop Israel, there is chaos, anarchy, and mass killings amounting to genocide in Gaza," Yılmaz said.
Türkiye also condemned Israel’s attacks on the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and its prohibition on the agency's operations, describing them as a violation of the court's provisional measures and a possible act of destruction against Palestinians as a protected group.
Citing the killing of Turkish-American humanitarian Aysenur Ezgi Eygi during peaceful protests in the West Bank, Yılmaz said the risks to aid workers remain dire.
"Türkiye respectfully requests the ICJ to issue an advisory opinion," he said, "that reaffirms Israel's obligations under international law and paves the way for justice, peace, and security for both Palestinians and Israelis."
The Israeli army renewed its assault on Gaza on March 18, shattering a Jan. 19 ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
Nearly 52,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.
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