By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider
30 nations gathered in Bogota, Colombia in order to host a multilateral discussion on Tuesday titled “Emergency Conference” in order to discuss carefully coordinated measures to end Israel’s genocide on Gaza and their illegal occupation of Palestine. South Africa and Colombia served as co-chairs of The Hague Group.
The Hague group summit held over a two day period will aim to halt the genocide in Gaza, which is held in Colombia who ended their diplomatic relations with Israel with the participation of South Africa who are co-chairs and took Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last year and were joined by approximately 24 countries in bringing the case forward.
The Hague Group was established on the 31st of January in order to pursue “coordinated legal and diplomatic measures” in defence of international law and in solidarity with the people of Palestine.
Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, said ahead of the conference; “This summit marks a turning point in the global response to the erosion and violation of international law.”
Colombian Deputy Foreign Minister Mauricio Jaramillo Jassir has said before the summit that; “The Palestinian genocide threatens the entire international system. Colombia cannot remain indifferent in the face of Apartheid and ethnic cleansing. The participating states will not only reaffirm their commitment to opposing genocide, but also formulate concrete steps to move from words to collective action.”
Some of the actions that these nations seek to take includes enforcing the ICC arrest warrants which were issued to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant who served as the defense minister under Netanyahu.
The crimes that they are accused of include crimes against humanity and enacting war crimes upon the people of Gaza as well as murder and forced starvation which has left 211,000 Palestinians dead, missing or injured since October 2023 according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The nations that are included as members of the Hague group are Namibia, Malaysia, Bolivia, Cuba, Senegal, Chile, China, Iraq, Palestine, Brazil, Ireland, Libya, Mexico, Indonesia, Pakistan and Venezuela. Other nations that will be in attendance who are also allies of the United States, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Turkey and Slovenia.
Both Israel and the United States deny that there is a genocide taking place in Gaza even though human rights defenders, Genocide experts and jurists are all in consensus that Israel’s unlawful occupation of Palestine is genocide.
A spokesperson for the U.S State Department told Jewish News Syndicate that “The United States strongly opposes so-called multilateral blocs to weaponize international law as a tool to advance radical anti-American agendas.” “The Trump administration will aggressively defend our interests, our military, our allies including Israel, from such coordinated legal and diplomatic warfare.” the Spokesperson added.
Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, has said at the conference that; “The world will remember what we, states and individuals, did in this moment-whether we recoiled in fear or rose in defence of human dignity. Here in Bogota, a growing number of states have the opportunity to break the silence and revert to a path of legality by finally saying: Enough. Enough impunity. Enough empty rhetoric. Enough exceptionalism. Enough complicity. The time has come to act in pursuit of justice and peace-grounded in rights and freedoms for all, and not mere privileges for some, at the expense of the annihilation of others.”