Australian international court judge calls for Israel to suspend Gaza military operation

Hilary Charlesworth, an Australian international court judge, has called for Israel to suspend its military operations in Gaza.

Charlesworth believes a suspension is required to ensure enough aid reaches civilians, while also cautioning that such a step "only partly addresses the risk of destruction of the Palestinians in Gaza".

Charlesworth expressed this position after joining 15 other judges last Thursday in unanimously ordering Israel to urgently ensure "the unhindered provision at scale by all concerned of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance" including food and water, reports the Guardian.

The declaration, posted on the ICJ website alongside statements from several other judges, is not so much a dissenting opinion as an additional explanation of her position.

Charlesworth said the ICJ's new orders included a call for Israel to ensure "its military does not commit acts" that breach the genocide convention "including by preventing, through any action, the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance".

But Charlesworth, who has a doctorate of juridical science from Harvard Law School, said this "elliptical" phrasing was "drafted in such opaque terms that it fails to provide clear guidance to the parties".

"Instead of employing [these] convoluted terms … in my view the court should have made it explicit that Israel is required to suspend its military operations in the Gaza Strip, precisely because this is the only way to ensure that basic services and humanitarian assistance reach the Palestinian population," she wrote.

Charlesworth noted that the ICJ did not have power to order measures directed at entities not bound by its statute – a likely reference to Hamas – but said South Africa also had responsibilities given it had brought the legal dispute before the court.

"In my view it is open to the court to order both Israel and South Africa to take all reasonable measures within their power to achieve an immediate and sustained humanitarian ceasefire, which would serve to preserve the rights in dispute between them," she wrote.

She is the only Australian woman to have served on the international court of justice. She took the stand just months after the Australian government supported her re-election to the top UN court.

World powers, including US, UK, condemn deadly Israeli air strike on aid workers in Gaza

The United States and Britain led international criticism Tuesday of a deadly strike in the Gaza Strip that killed seven charity staff as they unloaded desperately needed aid brought by sea to the war-torn territory.

World Central Kitchen -- one of two NGOs spearheading efforts to deliver aid by boat -- said a "targeted Israeli strike" on Monday killed Australian, British, Palestinian, Polish and US-Canadian staff.

Washington, Israel's main ally, said it was "heartbroken and deeply troubled by the strike".

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"Humanitarian aid workers must be protected as they deliver aid that is desperately needed," US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strike was "unintentional". The Israeli army has vowed to hold an investigation and promised to "share our findings transparently".