- Spain became the first European country to request permission from the United Nations court to join South Africa's case against Israel for alleged genocide in Gaza.
- South Africa brought the case to the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of violating the genocide convention.
- The court ordered Israel to stop its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Spain on Thursday became the first European country to ask a United Nations court for permission to join South Africa's case that accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza.
South Africa brought its case to the International Court of Justice late last year. He alleged that Israel was violating the genocide convention in its military attack that has devastated large swathes of Gaza.
The court ordered Israel to immediately stop its military offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, but stopped short of ordering a ceasefire for the enclave. Israel has not complied and shows no signs of doing so.
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“We made the decision due to the ongoing military operation in Gaza,” Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said in Madrid. “We want peace to return to Gaza and the Middle East, and for that to happen we must all support the court.”
Spain's Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares Bueno addresses a news conference ahead of Middle East talks in Brussels, May 27, 2024. Spain on Thursday became the first European country to ask for permission to a United Nations court to join South Africa's case accusing Israel. of the genocide in Gaza. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, File)
Mexico, Colombia, Nicaragua, Libya and the Palestinians hope that the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, will approve their requests to join the case.
Israel denies it is committing genocide in its military operation to crush Hamas sparked by its deadly Oct. 7 attacks in southern Israel.
Hamas killed 1,200 people and took 250 more hostages in the surprise attacks. Israel's air and ground strikes have killed 36,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
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Once admitted to the case, Spain could make written submissions and speak at public hearings.
Spain's request is the latest move by Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's government to support peace efforts in Gaza.
Spain, Ireland and Norway formally recognized a Palestinian state on May 28 in a coordinated effort by the three Western European nations. Slovenia, a member of the European Union along with Spain and Ireland, followed suit and recognized the Palestinian state this week.
More than 140 countries have recognized a Palestinian state (more than two-thirds of the UN), but none of the major Western powers, including the United States, have done so.
While Sánchez has condemned the Hamas attacks and joined demands for the return of the remaining Israeli hostages, he has not shied away from Israel's diplomatic reaction. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that by recognizing a Palestinian state, Sánchez's government was “being complicit in inciting genocide against Jews and war crimes.”
Sánchez's support for the Palestinians is generally supported in Spain, where some university students have followed their American counterparts in campus protests. The Spanish will go to the elections on Sunday for the elections to the European Parliament.
Last year, the International Court of Justice allowed 32 countries, including Spain, to join the Ukraine case alleging that Russia violated the genocide convention by falsely accusing Ukraine of committing genocide in its eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, and using it as a pretext for the invasion. .
Preliminary hearings have already been held in the genocide case against Israel, but the court is expected to take years to reach a final decision.
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Albares said his government's decision was immediately aimed at increasing pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to follow the court's interim measures to stop the bloodshed in Rafah.
“I insist once again that these provisional measures must be complied with,” said Albares. “Whether this is genocide or not, that will be decided by the court and Spain, of course, will support its decision.”
Israel sent troops to the southern city of Rafah in early May in what it said was a limited raid, but those forces are now operating in central parts of the city. Last week, Israeli strikes hit near a UN Palestinian refugee agency facility in Rafah, saying they targeted Hamas militants. An ensuing inferno leveled nearby tents housing displaced families and killed at least 45 people.
More than a million people have fled Rafah since the start of the operation, scattering across southern and central Gaza into new tent camps or crowding into schools and homes.
