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Mexico seeks to join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at ICJ

Wednesday, 29 May 2024 6:31 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 29 May 2024 6:40 AM ]

A Palestinian man walks past a destroyed building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 26, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Mexico has filed an application with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel.

In its declaration, Mexico stated that it “seeks to intervene, in order to provide its view on the potential construction of the content of the provisions of the Convention relevant to this case,” the ICJ said in a press release on X on Tuesday.

Mexico submitted its declaration of intervention in the case after invoking Article 63 of the ICJ Statute which states that any signatory to the Genocide Convention can intervene in a case because it is an international treaty whose interpretation impacts all parties.

“The Genocide Convention not only proscribes mass killings, but also a broader array of conducts brought together by the intention to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group,” Mexico said.

Mexico further noted that “the deliberate obstruction of access to humanitarian assistance” and the “destruction of cultural heritage” should be considered in the case.

It remains uncertain whether the ICJ will accept Mexico's application for intervention.

Colombia, Nicaragua and Libya have also asked the ICJ for intervention in support of the South African case against Israel.

Belgium, Egypt, Ireland, Maldives and Turkey have also stated their intention to join the case.

South Africa filed a genocide case against Israel in December 2023 over its war on the Gaza Strip. According to South Africa’s application, Israel's actions in Gaza were "genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group."

Also on May 10, South Africa asked the ICJ to order a halt to the war in Gaza, particularly in the southern refugee-packed city of Rafah.

The request came after Israel carried out ground incursions into Rafah in defiance of global warnings, forcing more than 800,000 people “to flee.”

On May 24, the ICJ ordered Israel to halt its aggression on Rafah, establish humanitarian corridors and allow the world body to investigate genocide.

Israel launched its brutal war on Gaza on October 7 last year after Palestinian resistance groups carried out a historic operation against the usurping regime in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Since the start of the Israeli offensive on Gaza on October 7, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 36,096 Palestinians and injured 81,136 more.

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