Brazil will join South Africa at the United Nations International Court of Justice in a case against the Israeli genocide of Palestinians. The South American country will be a third party to the case. The decision is in line with the institutional moves by the Brazilian government, which is critical of Israel’s stance.
In an interview with Al Jazeera at the BRICS Summit, in Rio, Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira confirmed that the country would sign the South African lawsuit against Israel and added that Brazil had tried to make institutional moves, but to no avail. “We made enormous efforts to call for negotiations. The latest developments in the war made us decide to join South Africa in the International Court,” said the Foreign Minister.
Since October 7, 2023, the alleged Israeli response to the Hamas group has killed more than 55,000 Palestinians, according to the local Ministry of Health. But researchers point out that this figure is largely underreported.
After two weeks of conflict with Iran, Israel resumed the battlefront in Gaza and carried out new attacks on the Palestinian people, including bombings in civilian areas and attacks on humanitarian aid areas.
Last week, South Africa filed a new petition against Israel at the International Court, claiming that the Netanyahu government had taken the confrontation to “a new and horrific stage”. Israel continues to claim that its actions respect international law.
Human rights, social and people’s movements have urged Brazil to become formally involved in the process that seeks to hold Israel accountable for the massacre carried out by its military forces. In addition to signing the lawsuit, Brazil should not accept the appointment of a new Israeli ambassador and should “keep relations to a minimum and be very strict about the free trade agreement, perhaps even suspending it”, according to Lula’s former foreign minister, Celso Amorim, in an interview with the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo.
