The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain, José Manuel Albares, announced this Thursday that Spain will join the procedure initiated by South Africa against Israel in the International Court of Justice for genocide. “We made this decision in view of the continuation of the military operation in Gaza,” said the minister. “This decision is based on a document, the interpretative memory, in which Spain expresses its intention to intervene in the procedure and provide support to the work of the court and especially to the precautionary measures that have to be applied,” said the minister. . This decision does not mean supporting any of the parties, the minister has clarified, but rather assisting the judges when making a decision.
Albares has explained that by joining the case against Israel, Spain will provide interpretative elements to help the court when issuing a sentence. “We have been meditating on this decision for weeks,” he stated. “I know that Ireland and Belgium have indicated their intention to intervene, but I don’t know if they have already presented the document,” the minister said in relation to other European countries. The last to join the procedure was Chile. “We do not have double standards,” the minister stated, ensuring that they also participate in legal procedures related to the war in Ukraine.
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has also defended the step taken by Spain to join South Africa in the international criminal procedure against Israel for its massacre in Gaza. “Given the Netanyahu government’s failure to comply with the request of the International Court of Justice to stop the war, and in support of respect for United Nations international law, we intervene in the procedure initiated by South Africa,” the president said during an event the Confederation of Social Economy Companies.
Sánchez has described as “urgent” the support for international justice bodies that ask Netanyahu to stop the bloodshed. “It is urgent that we all support the court so that the precautionary measures are carried out to stop any military operation. And it is essential that we all strengthen the role of the court as the highest judicial body of a judicial system based on rules,” added Sánchez, who claimed that Spain will always remain “on the right side of history.”
Previously, during his appearance, Albares denounced that the precautionary measures ordered by the court “are not being complied with” and that humanitarian assistance is not arriving. “Spain makes this decision so that peace returns to Gaza and the Middle East and it is essential that we all support the Court, that its precautionary measures are respected,” stated the minister.
Today, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has joined other world leaders, such as those of the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Colombia, Brazil and Portugal, to request the release of the hostages who remain in the hands of the Palestinian group Hamas. In a statement issued by the White House, the leaders say they are concerned about the hostages, among whom are nationals from those countries, and show their support “for the movement towards a ceasefire and the agreement for the release of hostages that is now in place.” on the table, as announced by the president [Joe] Biden on May 31.”
“This offer we have on the table is what we need,” the US president said last week, when he detailed the content of an Israeli proposal that includes different phases and would lead to the release of all the hostages and the end of the war. in Gaza.
Sumar calls for other measures
Minutes before the Albares press conference, Vice President Yolanda Díaz, in the spotlight of Israel for closing one of her speeches with the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” – considered anti-Semitic by Israel – has denounced the “Netanyahu genocide”, on the social network X. “36,000 murdered. 16,000 boys and girls. Constant bombings in refugee camps, hospitals and schools. Netanyahu’s genocide has crossed all unimaginable borders. “After the recognition of the Palestinian State, we must immediately withdraw the ambassador.”
For his part, the Minister of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030, Pablo Bustinduy, has also reacted to the decision. “Spain joins the South African claim before the International Court of Justice. Another necessary step that we have been working on for months. But it is not enough: we must adopt measures of economic and commercial pressure to put an end to the genocide and the apartheid regime in Palestine,” he published on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
Last Monday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry ordered the Spanish Consulate in Jerusalem to stop providing consular services as of June 1 to Palestinians “residents under the Palestinian Authority”, that is, in the occupied West Bank, in retaliation for the decision. of the Government to recognize the Palestinian State. “Those who reward Hamas and try to establish a terrorist Palestinian state will have no contact with Palestinians,” threatened Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz. Albares has indicated that the consulate in Jerusalem has opened normally
“We are in the year 2024, the days of the Inquisition are over. Today we Jews have a sovereign and independent State and no one will force us to convert our religion or threaten our existence. “Whoever harms us, we will harm,” Katz stated in a statement in which he formally announced the first “punitive measures against Spain.”
Source: www.eldiario.es
