Hague (Agencies): Bolivia has officially joined South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, the court confirmed yesterday.
The South American country submitted its application on Tuesday to intervene in the case, which accuses Israel of committing “genocidal acts” in Gaza, in violation of the Genocide Convention.
“Israel’s genocidal war continues, and the Court’s orders remain dead letters to Israel,” argued Bolivia in its submission to the ICJ. “Bolivia seeks to intervene since it considers that it has a responsibility to condemn the crime of genocide.”
South Africa filed the case at the court in The Hague in late 2023, accusing Israel, which has bombed Gaza since last October, of failing to uphold its commitments under the 1948 Genocide Convention.
The World Court ordered Israel in May to halt its offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. It was the third time that the 15-judge panel issued preliminary orders seeking to rein-in the killing and alleviate humanitarian suffering in the blockaded enclave, where the death toll of Palestinians has passed 42,000.
A number of countries have now joined the genocide case against Israel, including Turkiye, Nicaragua, Palestine, Spain, Mexico, Libya and Colombia. The ICJ began its public hearing in January.
Bolivia announced in November that it was severing diplomatic ties over what it described as the “disproportionate” attacks on Gaza by Israel. Predictably, in response Israel slammed the move as “a surrender to terrorism.”