The international court of justice has ordered Israel to allow unimpeded access of food aid into Gaza, where sections of the population are facing imminent starvation, in a significant legal rebuke to Israel’s claim it is not blocking aid deliveries.

A panel of judges at the UN’s top court, which is already considering a complaint from South Africa that Israel is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, issued the ruling after an emergency measure in January obliging Israel to admit emergency aid.

The judges, who were unanimous in their decision, said Palestinians in Gaza were facing worsening conditions of life, and famine and starvation were spreading. “The court observes that Palestinians in Gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine … but that famine is setting in,” the judges said.

In its legally binding order, the court told Israel to take “all necessary and effective measures to ensure, without delay, in full cooperation with the United Nations, the unhindered provision at scale by all concerned of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance” including food, water, fuel and medical supplies.

The ICJ also ordered Israel to immediately ensure “that its military does not commit acts which constitute a violation of any of the rights of the Palestinians in Gaza as a protected group under the convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide, including by preventing, through any action, the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance”.

Israel denies it is committing genocide and says its military campaign is self-defence.

The judges also called for the immediate release of all hostages being held by Hamas, echoing the demand of a UN security council resolution that was passed on Monday.

While Israel has claimed it is allowing aid into Gaza, senior UN, US and other international officials, as well as NGOs, have accused the country of obstructing life-saving aid to Gaza’s population of 2.3 million.

Israel says it needs to inspect every shipment to make sure no cargo can be used to the benefit of its Hamas enemies. Even trucks travelling from Egypt, which has a peace treaty with Israel, are inspected by Israeli forces. Aid officials criticise the slow and often arbitrary inspection process, which in practice blocks aid, with trucks waiting weeks for approvals.

Israeli officials did not issue a direct response to the ICJ’s order.

According to media reports, Benjamin Netanyahu’s domestic issues are nearing crisis levels. The Israeli prime minister is facing the most serious threat yet to his administration as he struggles to bridge a major split in the shaky national-unity government, caused by Israel’s supreme court on Saturday ordering an end to government subsidies for many ultra-Orthodox men who are historically exempt from conscription.

In his coalition, the powerful bloc of ultra-Orthodox parties demands that religious men be exempted, while the centrist members of his war cabinet insist all sectors of Israeli society must share the burden of the war in Gaza.

The ruling follows warnings from the UN’s top rights official that Israel may be committing a war crime by obstructing aid, and despite Israel’s urging of the court in The Hague not to issue new measures.

The new measures were requested by South Africa as part of its case that accuses Israel of state-led genocide in Gaza as well as incitement to genocide in statements by top Israeli officials.

Under international law, using starvation as a weapon of war is explicitly prohibited, while occupying forces are also legally obliged to ensure those in areas they control are supplied with the means of life.

The UN said on Wednesday that famine was “ever closer to becoming a reality in northern Gaza” and that the health system was collapsing owing to the continuing hostilities and “access constraints”.

(Source: The Guardian)