THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Belgium on Tuesday joined South Africa in a case brought before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which accuses Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.
The UN’s highest court, based in The Hague, said in a statement that Brussels had filed a declaration of intervention.
Several countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Ireland, Mexico, Spain and Turkey have already joined the case. Nicaragua had initially requested to join the case as well, but withdrew its application two months later, without citing a reason.
In December 2023, South Africa brought a case to the United Nations’ highest court in The Hague, alleging that the offensive launched by Israel in Gaza in the wake of the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, massacre breached the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Israel has rejected the accusation of genocide as baseless and accused South Africa of acting as an emissary of Hamas. It insists it makes every effort to avoid harming civilians and blames Hamas for their deaths because the terror group’s fighters operate out of densely populated areas.
In rulings in January, March, and May 2024, the ICJ told Israel to do everything possible to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza, including by providing urgently needed humanitarian aid to prevent famine.
Police detain protesters during a rally in The Hague, Netherlands, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
These orders are legally binding, but the court has no concrete means to enforce them.
The war in Gaza erupted with the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on October 7, when thousands of terrorists poured through the border, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages. The remains of one hostage, Ran Gvili, has yet to be returned following the start of a ceasefire in October, which brought about the release of the final living hostages and all but one of the deceased.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says that more than 70,000 people have been killed in the ensuing war in the enclave, at least 395 of whom it says were killed since the start of the ceasefire on October 10.
The toll does not differentiate between combatants and civilians, and cannot be independently verified, although its numbers are considered reliable by the UN.
Belgium was among a string of countries to recognize an independent Palestinian state in September, a status acknowledged by nearly 80 percent of UN members.
