The Israeli Supreme Court voted unanimously on Thursday to reject a petition calling on the Jewish state to resume allowing aid to enter Gaza.
Sitting as the country’s High Court of Justice, the body ruled that the government’s directives to the Israel Defense Forces were appropriate under both the laws of armed conflict and Israeli regulations, Ynet reported.
The ruling reiterated prior decisions stating that the legal principle of “belligerent occupation” does not apply to the situation in Gaza, where Israel does not govern and Hamas terrorists still exercise authority.
“The true factual picture we were exposed to differs from the one the petitioners sought to present,” wrote Noam Sohlberg, one of the justices of the court. The IDF’s “mobilization to bring humanitarian aid into Gaza, amid intense military activity, is unparalleled among the armies of the world,” he added.
“Alongside managing the war effort, senior IDF officials were engaged in coordinating logistical and security needs in order to allow the regular transfer of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip—on a large scale, in a vast and extensive manner,” Sohlberg wrote.
The justice David Mintz stated that the government and the IDF “went above and beyond what was required to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, even taking the risk that the transferred aid might fall into the hands of the Hamas terror organization and be used against Israel.”
The petition was filed by a collective of left-wing and Arab Israeli nonprofits in response to Jerusalem’s March 2 announcement that it was halting aid to Gaza in response to Hamas’s refusal to extend the hostage deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that no goods or supplies would enter the Strip until further notice, reaffirming that his government will not agree to a truce without the release of hostages.
During the 42-day ceasefire that started on Jan. 19, 25,200 aid trucks carrying food, water and medicine entered Gaza, alongside more than half a million tents and 2,100 fuel tankers. Israeli officials estimate that Hamas terrorists have stockpiled supplies for some four to six months.
Israeli assessments indicate that Palestinian terrorist groups in the Strip are still holding 59 hostages. Of these, 24 are believed to be alive—all men—while 35, including three women, are believed to be deceased.
