Madrid, Jun 6 (EFE).- Spain announced Thursday that it will join the International Court of Justice case brought by South Africa on the situation in the Gaza Strip.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the move was needed to show support for the ICJ and to ensure that Spain remains “on the right side of history.”
Sánchez stressed that Spain remains committed to securing peace both in Ukraine and the Middle East.
He said Israel’s airstrike on a UNRWA school on Thursday, in which at least 40 people were killed and dozens wounded, had added to the “unbearable toll of 36,000 Gazan victims” since the conflict escalated in October.
After pointing out that, according to the UN, 90% of children in Gaza are suffering from malnutrition and that thousands of Palestinians have lost their homes, Sánchez stressed that both the government and Spanish society are committed to peace and upholding international law.
He also repeated his condemnation of the Hamas attacks in October – in which around 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage – his demand for all of the captives to be released and his call for a permanent ceasefire.
Spain’s foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, said earlier on Thursday that the Spanish government had taken the decision to join the ICJ proceedings given the fact that Israel has continued its offensive in the war-torn Palestinian enclave and in view of the “enormous concern” raised by the conflict spreading to other parts of the Middle East.
“It is a step that we have been evaluating for many weeks, that other countries have already taken and others have announced that they are going to take. Our objective is twofold: for peace to return to Gaza and the Middle East, and out of commitment to international law,” he said.
Spain joins Mexico, Colombia, Nicaragua and Libya, which have already supported the genocide proceedings initiated by South Africa against Israel at the ICJ.
“It is urgent that we all support the court so that the precautionary measures to stop any military operation are complied with. And it is essential that we all strengthen the United Nations by supporting the role of the court as the highest judicial body of a rules-based international system,” Sánchez argued.
Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip began in response to an attack by the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Oct. 7.
The Israeli military campaign has left more than 36,580 people dead and 83,000 wounded, in addition to some 10,000 missing under the rubble, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health. EFE
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