Gaza war: Spain joins South Africa’s case at top UN court accusing Israel of genocide
- Until now, no European country has joined South Africa’s case at the UN’s top court. Ireland has also indicated it plans to join the case
Spain said on Thursday it would join South Africa’s case at the UN’s top court, in which Pretoria has accused Israel of “genocide” in the Gaza Strip.
“Our sole goal is to put an end to the war and to advance on the road of applying the two-state solution”, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told journalists.
His statement came a week after Spain, along with Ireland and Norway, recognised the State of Palestine, sparking fury from Israel.
South Africa brought the case before the International Court of Justice last year. It alleges that Israel’s Gaza offensive, launched in retaliation for an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel, breached the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.
Israel has strongly denied the accusation.
Albares, asked if he felt Israel’s actions in Gaza amounted to genocide, said it was up to the court to decide.