South Africa’s Minister for International Affairs, Ronald Lamola, said the initiative aims to “ensure respect for international law and protect the most vulnerable”.
On 31 January 2025, the Hague Group was established in the Netherlands, an alliance of
nine countries, South Africa, Malaysia, Namibia, Colombia, Bolivia, Chile, Senegal, Honduras and Belize, to defend the right
international and to support the Palestinians’ right to self-determination.
According to the South African minister Ronald Lamola, the message of the Hague Group is that no state, however powerful, is above the law and no crime should go unpunished.
“The Israeli authorities are not acting on the precautionary measures ordered by the International Court of Justice to prevent genocide in the Gaza Strip. Israel must not be allowed to circumvent international law any further” Amnesty International said months ago.
The Hague Group now declares and underwrites that Israel is violating international law, citing rulings of the International Court of Justice, UN resolutions and arrest warrants issued against Israeli leaders. The coalition of nine countries stresses at the same time the responsibility and duty of all states to act to prevent these crimes.
In January 2024, the Court of Justice had issued an interim judgment requesting that Israel allow delivering aid to Gaza to improve the humanitarian situation. On 24 June, the judges also asked Israel to keep open the Rafah crossing at the border with Egypt to allow humanitarian aid to pass “unrestricted” and ordered acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip to be prevented.
The Court had held that “Israel’s occupation and annexation of the Palestinian territories are illegal, and Israeli discriminatory laws and practices against Palestinians violate the prohibition of racial segregation and apartheid,” but the Israeli government has continued to deny this statement, rejecting any request.
The Malaysian prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, has stressed how the Israeli attitude threatens the foundations of international law and therefore requires a coordinated response from the international community.
At a time of growing criticism and tensions towards the judicial system to safeguard international humanitarian law, the nine countries of the Hague Group aim to protect the decisions of the International Court of Justice (ICC) and the International Criminal Court (ICC) against attempts to discredit its role and judgments, criticising and highlighting the double standards applied by Western powers, especially in managing the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, up to the tragic issue of human trafficking in the Mediterranean.
The birth of the Group is demanding for protection and guarantee of respect for international rules by all states, which are too often violated by those countries that stand as champions of a more guaranteed culture.
