BOGOTA, Colombia

Colombia has declared its backing for South Africa’s legal action against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), citing alleged violations of the 1948 Genocide Convention during the Gaza war.

“As President (Gustavo) Petro has said, from the very beginning of the bloody phase of the conflict in Palestine, it is very clear that the actions and measures adopted by the government of Israel constitute acts of genocide.

“As a State, Israel is obliged to prevent and avoid these types of international criminal offenses at all costs and, consequently, its failure to comply with these commitments entails its responsibility to the entire world,” said a statement on Wednesday by the Foreign Ministry.

The statement that Petro published on X said that “South Africa’s demand is a brave step in the right direction,” and that Colombia “intends to enforce the lofty objectives of the convention to which it is also a state party.”

The Foreign Ministry assured that it hopes that the court “adopts decisions that allow the bloodbath in Gaza and the occupied territories to cease now.”

The ICJ is hearing South Africa’s legal team for urgent provisional measures on the first day of hearings on Thursday on allegations Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

Israel, which described the request as “atrocious and absurd,” will be heard on Friday in a process in which South Africa already has several supporters, such as Jordan, Türkiye and Bolivia, but also the rejection of others, such as Guatemala and the US.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva also announced on Wednesday that his country will support South Africa’s international lawsuit in The Hague.

Since the start of the current conflict on Oct. 7 following a surprise attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, Israel has said repeatedly that it aims to eliminate Hamas.

In attacks on the Gaza Strip since that date, Israel has killed over 23,000 Palestinians and injured some 60,000, most of them women and children, along with a draconian blockade on much-needed supplies.