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South Africa formerly sued Israel in international court earlier this year accusing the country of genocide.
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Spain has now asked to join the suit against the Middle Eastern country.
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The International Court has ordered Israel to stop the offensive in Rafah.
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Several countries recently announced they were recognizing Palestine as a state.
(NewsReady.com) – South Africa formally accused Israel of genocide in a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in January. The country pleaded with the court to issue an order calling on the Israeli military to stop its operations in Gaza. Spain has now requested to intervene in the case.
Spain Requests to Join Suit
On June 6, Spain became the first European country to petition the ICJ to join South Africa’s case against the Israeli government. Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s prime minister, spoke to the media after Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares announced the country’s intention to join the lawsuit. He said his country was going to ensure it was “on the right side of history.”
Albares said that Spain wanted to join the lawsuit because of Israel’s “ongoing military operation in Gaza.” He explained that he wanted there to be peace in the Middle East, including in Gaza. The only way to make sure that happened was to support the lawsuit.
Spain’s decision to join the lawsuit came days after the country joined Ireland and Norway in formally recognizing Palestine as a sovereign state. Slovenia also recognized it as a state. That brought the number of nations recognizing the region as a state to 140, or two-thirds of the United Nations.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused Spain of “being complicit in inciting genocide against Jews and war crimes” for its decision to formally recognize Palestine.
South Africa’s Lawsuit
In January, South African lawyers accused Israel of committing decades of oppression of the Palestinian people. The country pointed to the tens of thousands of civilian deaths as proof that Israel, which was founded after the Holocaust, was carrying out a genocide.
Israel’s government has vehemently denied the allegations. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video statement at the time and called it an “upside-down world” that his country, which is “fighting genocide” would be accused of actually committing it. “The hypocrisy of South Africa screams to the heavens,” he said.
At the end of May, the ICJ ordered Israel to stop its military operations in Rafah, a town in Gaza along the Egyptian border. Israel refused to follow the international court’s order. Spain’s announcement that it was joining the lawsuit was seen as an attempt to put pressure on the Israeli government to comply with the court’s order.
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