ISRAEL must allow the UN aid agency in Gaza to provide critical humanitarian assistance to the war-torn territory, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled today.

The decision came as Palestinians in Gaza said they have seen no real change since the ceasefire took effect on October 10, with Israel continuing sporadic attacks and restricting aid.

At least one person was killed in north Gaza’s Tuffah area today, adding to nearly 100 Palestinians killed since the truce began.

The UN general assembly had asked the ICJ last year for an advisory opinion on Israel’s legal obligations after it effectively banned the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) — Gaza’s main humanitarian provider — from operating in the enclave.

ICJ president Yuji Iwasawa said Israel “is under the obligation to agree to and facilitate relief schemes provided by the United Nations and its entities, including UNRWA.”

Israel, which boycotted the April hearings but submitted a 38-page written response, denies violating international law and accuses the court of bias.

Advisory opinions are technically non-binding but carry significant legal weight, often shaping future UN and international policy.

Under the current ceasefire, 600 aid trucks are meant to enter Gaza daily.

Yet the UN said today that only a fraction of that number have been allowed in.

“Aid entering the Gaza Strip is a drop in the ocean of what’s urgently needed,” UNRWA said on X.

“All crossings need to open. Aid needs to be unrestricted.”

The ICJ ruling also found that Israel had failed to provide evidence that UNRWA was infiltrated by Hamas, rejecting Israeli claims that the agency had ties to the group.

“The court finds that Israel has not substantiated its allegations that a significant part of UNRWA’s employees are ‘members of Hamas or other terrorist factions,’” Mr Iwasawa said.

He also reiterated that “Israel is under an obligation not to use starvation of the civilian population as a method of warfare.”

The findings echo those of an investigation led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna, which concluded Israel had “yet to provide supporting evidence” for its claims.

In January, Israel banned UNRWA from Gaza, accusing it of complicity with Hamas.

The move halted aid for months, forcing the UN to suspend food and medical deliveries.

Israel briefly reopened some routes in March before shifting to a US-backed initiative that attempted to reroute aid through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a plan widely condemned by aid groups.

Conditions deteriorated sharply, and in August, international food experts declared parts of Gaza to be in famine.

GHF has since suspended operations following the ceasefire.

Stop the War Coalition convener Lindsey German said the ICJ ruling is “all well and good,” but warned that nothing will stop “Netanyahu’s continued blocking of aid into Gaza, his refusal to open the Rafah crossing, the continued killing of Palestinian men, women and children, the increased settler-violence in the West Bank and the continued Israeli occupation of Palestine until Britain and the US stop enabling it.

“There must be an end to arms sales and the war criminals must be brought to justice,” she said.

“The Palestinian people have a right to self-determination and to live in a decent way, which continues to be denied to them by the Israeli government and those countries which empower it to do so.”

The advisory opinion was requested by the UN general assembly in December 2024 to clarify Israel’s obligations to “ensure and facilitate the unhindered provision of urgently needed supplies essential to the survival of the Palestinian civilian population.”

Mike Becker, an international law expert at Trinity College Dublin, said: “We cannot let states pick and choose where the UN is going to do its work.

“This advisory opinion is a very important opportunity to reinforce that.”

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 68,229 people and wounded 170,369 since October 2023.

In Israel, 1,139 people were killed in the October 7 2023 attacks led by Hamas, and around 200 were taken captive.

Hamas returned the bodies of two more captives to Israel on Tuesday night, positively identified by the government.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said today it had received the remains of 30 more Palestinian detainees held by Israel, bringing the total since the ceasefire to 195.

Some bodies bore marks of “torture, beating, handcuffing and blindfolding,” it said.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces arrested 45 people in new West Bank raids, including a child and several former prisoners.

US President Donald Trump claimed on Tuesday that several Middle Eastern countries had offered to send troops to Gaza to fight Hamas if the group “continues to act badly.”

Vice-President JD Vance met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, saying the US remained “optimistic” that the ceasefire would hold.

The advisory opinion at the ICJ is separate from the ongoing proceedings initiated by South Africa, accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.