The United Nations Supreme Court recently issued a legal opinion that Israel, as an occupying power, is obliged to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza – a clear rebuke to the blockade it has imposed on the Palestinian enclave since the beginning of the year.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague also said in its opinion that the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the main UN agency serving Palestinian refugees, has not violated the principle of impartiality.

The opinion was requested by the UN General Assembly in December after Israel passed laws banning UNRWA from operating in the country, severely limiting its ability to provide aid to Gaza.

The advisory opinion – which addresses Israel’s obligations to the UN, humanitarian organizations, and third states in the West Bank and Gaza – is non-binding, but carries political weight and is expected to increase pressure on Israel to cooperate with the UN and other aid agencies.

Israel has accused UNRWA of employing more than a thousand Hamas-linked employees and of cultivating hatred against Israel in its schools. UNRWA has repeatedly denied these accusations, claiming that there is no evidence to justify a “generalized description” of the organization as infiltrated by Hamas. A UN investigation found that nine of UNRWA’s 13,000 workers in Gaza “may” have been involved in the 7 October Hamas-led attacks.

However, the court said Wednesday that Israel has not provided evidence for the allegations against the UNRWA employees.