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Brazil has announced it will formally support South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which accuses the country of committing genocide during its ongoing military campaign in Gaza.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Brazil’s foreign ministry confirmed the government is in the final stages of submitting its official intervention in the case. The legal proceedings, initiated by South Africa in December 2023, argue that Israel’s actions in Gaza breach the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Israel has firmly rejected the allegation.
Several countries, including Colombia, Libya, and Mexico, have already joined the case, while many others have expressed their support. The ICJ, which serves as the UN’s highest judicial body, has issued three rulings so far—January, March, and May 2024—urging Israel to take all necessary measures to prevent acts of genocide and to ensure adequate humanitarian assistance reaches Palestinians in Gaza.
Brazil’s foreign ministry condemned what it called “indiscriminate violence” against civilians in the territory, and criticised the “blatant use of hunger as a weapon of war.” It added that the global community could not “remain inert in the face of ongoing atrocities.”
The Israeli bombardment of Gaza erupted following Hamas’s assault on Israel on October 7, 2023. In response, Israel launched a large-scale military operation, which has since drawn growing international scrutiny, particularly over the dire humanitarian conditions now facing Palestinians.
On the same day Brazil announced its planned legal move, Israel strongly denied claims it was responsible for widespread food shortages in Gaza. However, over 100 humanitarian and rights organisations have warned that “mass starvation” is rapidly taking hold across the besieged territory.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been among the most outspoken critics of Israel’s invasion, repeatedly accusing the country of committing genocide.
Under the UN Genocide Convention, genocide is defined as any of five acts carried out with the intent to destroy, wholly or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.
