The ruling is significant coming against the background of the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court ICC against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant on charges of crimes against humanity for using starvation as a means of warfare against the Gazan civilian population.

The International Court of Justice ICJ is also considering a suit filed by South Africa against Israel on charges of genocide, relating in large part to accusations that Israel’s policies regarding the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza have been deliberately designed to create conditions to bring about civilian deaths in the territory.

The Gisha human rights group, the primary petitioner in the case, denounced the decision, saying it gave Israel “a green light to continue committing war crimes” in Gaza.

In his written opinion, Amit asserted that:
1. the IDF had taken steps during the war to reduce the harm done to Gaza’s civilian population,
2. but acknowledged that the “fierce and protracted fighting” had exacted a heavy price from the civilian population in the strip.

“There is no dispute, and there can be no dispute, that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is not easy, to put it mildly,” wrote Amit.
however, that “the suffering of the civilian population does not in itself indicate a breach of [its] obligation by the State of Israel,”