Spain joins South Africa’s lawsuit against Israel in the International Court of Justice: what does it mean?

The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs justified the decision by the continuation of the Israeli military offensive in that Palestinian territory. and the “enormous concern” caused by the regional extension of the conflict.

He explained that the objective is for peace to return to Gaza and the Middle East and to achieve this, everyone’s support for the court is urgent. so that the precautionary measures ordered by the ICJ in order to stop the operation in Rafah, in the south of the Strip, are respected.

“Our only objective is to end the war and finally begin to move forward in implementing the two-state solution,” he added.

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South Africa launched this process before the ICJ – which is the highest UN court, based in The Hague – last year, claiming that The Israeli offensive in Gaza violates the 1948 UN genocide convention, an accusation that Israel firmly denies.
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In another decision in January, the Court ordered Israel to do everything possible to avoid acts of genocide during its military operations in Gaza.

Since then, South Africa argued several times before the ICJ that the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza forces the court to issue new emergency measures.
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On May 24, The court ordered Israel to “immediately” stop its military offensive in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have gathered since the start of the conflict between Hamas and Israel on October 7.

ICJ decisions are legally binding, but the body does not have any coercive means to implement them. For example, he ordered Russia to end the invasion of Ukraine, without any success.

Since the start of the war in Gaza, Spain became the most critical voice towards Israel within the European Union and, together with Ireland and Norway, officially recognized Palestine as a State on May 28.
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​Asked if he considered that a genocide was being committed in the Gaza Strip, Albares responded that it should be the ICJ that answers this question.
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​”That is the Court’s job,” to determine whether a genocide is being committed, said Albares, who assured that Spain “will support the decision made by the International Court of Justice,” just as it is doing with the precautionary measures.
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​The minister wanted to make it clear that “Spain does not take sides with either of the two parties in the process”, but rather in favor of the ICJ to help it in whatever its interpretation has to be.

Ministers of the radical left party Sumar, which governs in coalition with Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Party, have been accusing Israel for months of committing “genocide.”

At the end of May, the head of Defense, Margarita Robles, was the first socialist minister to join the accusations and affirm that a “true genocide” is being committed in the Gaza Strip.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs explained at a press conference that joining the demand is done to strengthen the United Nations, supporting the role of his court and the precautionary measures issued by it. With this, he wanted to make it clear, Spain does not take a position on the crime itself.
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Albares explained that Spain intervenes in application of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, which allows States to participate in the process.

The intervention is substantiated, he indicated, with the presentation of a first brief document, in which Spain’s intention to intervene is announced; It is followed by another more extensive one, which is being finalized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and which It will contain the interpretative elements to help the ICJ to issue a ruling and take precautionary measures.

In a subsequent act, the president of the Spanish Government, the socialist Pedro Sánchez, justified that Spain had decided to intervene in the CIP procedure because believes it is urgent to support this institution and because in this way it remains “on the right side of history.”

The head of the Executive stressed that Spain maintains its commitment to peace both in Ukraine and in the Middle East and framed in that context the decision to recognize Palestine as a State on May 28.

After mentioning the attack on the UNRWA school and remembering that, according to the UN, 90% of children in Gaza suffer from malnutrition and thousands of Palestinians have lost their homes, he stressed that, in Spain, both the Government and society are committed to peace and international legality.

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For this reason, in addition to insisting on the condemnation of the Hamas attacks and demanding the immediate release of the Israeli hostages and a permanent ceasefire, he defended Spain’s intervention in the ICJ’s request to stop the war.

“It is urgent that we all support the court so that the precautionary measures are carried out to stop any military operation. And it is essential that we strengthen the United Nations together by supporting the role of the court as the highest judicial body of an international system based on rules,” Sánchez argued.

The Islamist group Hamas celebrated this Thursday the announcement of Spain’s accession to South Africa’s complaint. “We believe that this announcement, in addition to the accession of many other countries to the demand, will strengthen international justice in its prosecution of the occupying entity,” the Islamist group said in a statement in which it accused Israel of committing “the most serious crimes.” crimes of genocide” and crimes against humanity.

Hamas also called worldwide for other countries to join and criticized the futility of the precautionary decisions adopted by the ICJ, that on May 24, it demanded to “immediately stop” its military offensive in Rafah and reopen the homonymous crossing that connects it with Egypt; both decisions ignored.

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The Palestinian ambassador to Spain, Husni Abdel Wahed, for his part, highlighted that Spain acts in this way “in a manner consistent with its principles” and added: “Hopefully others will join in.”

“Those who boast of being custodians of democracy, human rights and International Law have to act in accordance with what they announce and, unfortunately, there are few who act in accordance with their principles and values: Spain is one of them” , he said in a statement to the press in the Spanish city of Alicante.