Maldives seeks to join South African genocide case against Israel

ANKARA

The Maldives Tuesday said it has officially filed a declaration of intervention in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to join the genocide case against Israel for committing massacres in the Gaza Strip.

“The Maldives, pursuant to the Article 63 of the CIJ_IC Statute, filed the declaration of intervention to the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa vs. Israel)," Maldives’ President Mohamed Muizzu said in a post on X.

“Israel must be held accountable for its unlawful acts in Gaza. The rule of law must be upheld, and Israel must cease its genocidal acts against the Palestinian people," he added.

The Maldives, he went on to say, will always side with “humanity, peace and justice, and in doing so, we will continue to stand with the Palestinian people.”

Muizzu further said that Palestine “must” be recognized and established based on the pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

South Africa filed the case at the tribunal based in The Hague in late 2023, accusing Israel, which has bombed Gaza since last October, of failing to uphold its commitments under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

The top UN court ordered Israel in May to halt its offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. It was the third time the 15-judge panel issued preliminary orders seeking to rein in the death toll and alleviate humanitarian suffering in the blockaded enclave, where casualties have surpassed 41,600.

Several countries have joined the genocide case against Israel, including Türkiye, Nicaragua, Palestine, Spain, Mexico, Libya and Colombia. The court began public hearings in January.