MADRID: Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares on Thursday said that Madrid wanted to put an end to ongoing Israeli bombardment in the besieged Gaza Strip and to advance on the road of applying the two-state solution to address the Middle East crisis. “Our sole goal is to put an end to the war and to advance on the road of applying the two-state solution”, the Foreign Minister said.
While addressing a news conference, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said that Spain will join South Africa’s case at the United Nations’s top court in which Pretoria has accused Israel of “genocide” in the Gaza Strip.
A week earlier, Spain, along with Ireland and Norway, recognized the state of Palestine.
South Africa brought the case before the International Court of Justice last year, alleging that Israel’s ongoing Gaza offensive breached the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.
Set up after World War II, the Hague-based ICJ rules in disputes between states.
The UN top court on Friday ordered Israel to ensure “unimpeded access” to a UN-mandated investigation team to look into allegations of genocide.
In a ruling on January 26, the court also ordered Israel to do everything it could to prevent acts of genocide during its military offensive in Gaza.
But South Africa has since returned several times to the ICJ arguing that the dire humanitarian situation in the territory compels the court to issue further fresh emergency measures.
On May 24, the court ordered Israel to “immediately” halt its military offensive in the city of Rafah and keep open the key border crossing there for “unhindered” humanitarian aid.
ICJ rulings are legally binding, but the court has no concrete means to enforce them.
España va a intervenir en el procedimiento del Tribunal Internacional de Justicia ante la situación en Gaza.
Lo hacemos por compromiso con @ONU_es y con el Derecho Internacional. Para apoyar la labor del Tribunal. Para evitar más muertes de civiles. Por la paz. pic.twitter.com/WQRI1tDyrk
— José Manuel Albares (@jmalbares) June 6, 2024
