World court orders Israel to take action to address Gaza famine

By Stephanie van den Berg

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Judges at the International Court of Justice on Thursday unanimously ordered Israel to take all the necessary and effective action to ensure basic food supplies arrive without delay to the Palestinian population in Gaza.

The ICJ said the Palestinians in Gaza face worsening conditions of life and famine and starvation are 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 their order.

The new measures were requested by South Africa as part of its ongoing case that accuses Israel of state-led genocide in Gaza.

(Reporting by Inti Landauro and Stephanie Van Den Berg; Editing by Tassilo Hummel)