内容摘要：By land area, New Zealand is about the size of the United Kingdom, but it has a human population 13 times smaller than the U.K. That means there’s plenty of room for sheep.

By land area, New Zealand is about the size of the United Kingdom, but it has a human population 13 times smaller than the U.K. That means there’s plenty of room for sheep.

to give an advisory opinion on Israel’s legal obligations after the countrythe U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, the main provider of aid to Gaza, from operating.

Experts say the case could have broader ramifications for the United Nations and its missions worldwide.and ceasefire efforts remain deadlocked. Israel has blocked the entry of food, fuel, medicine and other humanitarian supplies since March 2. It renewed its bombardment on March 18, breaking a ceasefire, and seized large parts of the territory, saying it aims to push Hamas to release more hostages.Israel denies deliberately targeting civilians and aid staff as part of its war with Hamas and did not attend the hearing. The country did provide a 38-page written submission for the court to consider.

The hearings focused on provision of aid to the Palestinians, but the U.N. court’s 15 judges could use their advisory opinion to give legal guidance on the powers of the world body.“The court has the opportunity to clarify and address questions about the legal immunities of the United Nations,” Mike Becker, an expert on international human rights law at Trinity College Dublin, told The Associated Press.

Advisory opinions issued by the U.N. court are described as “nonbinding” as there are no direct penalties attached to ignoring them. However, the treaty that covers the protections that countries must give to United Nations personnel says that disputes should be resolved through an advisory opinion at the ICJ and the opinion “shall be accepted as decisive by the parties.”

“The oddity of this particular process,” Becker said, “is a clear response to any argument that the opinion is nonbinding.”Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people in a surprise Oct. 7, 2023, attack in southern Israel. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 52,800 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants or civilians.

Israel says it has killed thousands of militants, without giving evidence. Thewhat it said was a Hamas “command and control center” located beneath a hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

“I can tell you from having visited what’s left of Gaza’s medical system, that death on this scale has a sound and a smell that does not leave you,” the U.N.'s Fletcher said.KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Some 40 world leaders announced their support Friday for the creation of a new international court to prosecute those most responsible for Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.