Brazil to join South Africa’s ICJ ‘genocide’ case against Israel

As non-Western nations raise calls for greater pressure, Brazil has announced that it will step up in a case involving the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to inquire about whether Israel is planning to commit “genocide” in Gaza.

The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday that it was in the “final stages” of submitting a formal letter to the ICJ regarding the case, which was originally brought by South Africa.

The Foreign Ministry stated in a statement that “the international community cannot continue to be active in the face of ongoing atrocities.” Brazil thinks there is no longer room for political omission or moral ambiguity. The multilateral system’s credibility is undermined by impunity and international legality.

Brazil’s planned intervention in the case, which was previously covered by the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S Paulo, comes as Israeli violations of Gaza, including severe aid restrictions that have caused the Gaza Strip to be in danger of widespread famine, are receiving more and more scrutiny.

According to the statement, the Brazilian government says it is “in the final stages of submitting a formal intervention in the ongoing case at the International Court of Justice” as directed by the statement.

The violence against the civilian population in the State of Palestine, which includes the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, is a “deep indignation” by the Brazilian government.

Increasingly vocal

The South American country claimed that “recurrent episodes of violence” and grave human rights violations, including the “shameless use of starvation as a weapon of war” have been reported by the country’s citizens in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

In addition, several other nations, including Spain, Turkiye, and the Republic of Ireland, have contacted the ICJ to complain that Israel is breaking its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

At a BRICS meeting earlier this month, Brazil’s president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, referred to Israel’s actions in Gaza as a genocide. According to a statement from the Foreign Ministry, the decision to intervene in the case is based on the “plausibility that the Palestinians’ rights to protection from genocide are being irreversibly harmed.”

The court issued an order in January 2024, requiring Israel to take action by allowing greater access to humanitarian aid, despite not ruling out whether Israel is planning a genocide in Gaza.

Despite a growing chorus of experts and human rights organizations warning of systematic rights violations in Gaza, pressure has had little impact, and the United States and other Western allies have remained steadfastly supportive of Israel.

Israel imposed a complete blockade in March, which for a while prohibited any aid from Gaza. A few months later, the GHF, a group closely linked to Israel and the US, resumed assistance.

Since May, more than 1, 000 Palestinians who were waiting for aid at GHF distribution centers have been killed by Israeli forces as a result of persistent reports of hunger-related deaths.