Two non-governmental organizations today accused Israel of continuing to cut humanitarian aid to Gaza Strip despite the request of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to make every effort to prevent genocide in the besieged territory.

THE international Amnesty stated that the Israeli authorities had not “taken the minimum steps necessary to comply” with the International Court of Justice ruling issued in January.

According to Amnesty and the Human Rights Watch (HRW)the number of humanitarian aid trucks entering Gaza has dropped by about a third following the court’s ruling, issued in South Africa’s appeal, which accuses Israel of violating the United Nations Convention on Genocide.

“The Israeli government is letting the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza starve to death, putting them at even greater risk than before the court’s binding ruling,” said today Omar Shakir, HRW director for Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

“The Israeli government simply defied the Court’s ruling and in some ways further intensified its repression, mainly by further blocking vital aid,” Shakir added, according to the statement. The UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) also said there was a “50% reduction” in humanitarian aid entering Gaza in February compared to January.

“Aid needed to be increased, not decreased, to meet the enormous needs of the two million Palestinians living in desperate conditions,” said UNRWA chief Philip Lazzarini on social networking platform X.

The accusations by the NGOs and UNRWA come as Israel prepares for an expected ground invasion of Rafah, in the southern part of Gaza Stripwhich would “be the scapegoat” for humanitarian aid programs in the Palestinian territory, according to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

War broke out after her mass attack Hamas in Israel on October 7, which left nearly 1,160 dead, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

The military attack launched by Israel in retaliation has already killed nearly 30,000 people, mostly women and children, in Gaza, according to Hamas’ health ministry.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called South Africa’s accusations of “genocide” in Gaza “scandalous”, denouncing a “despicable attempt to deny Israel its “fundamental right” to legitimate self-defense.