A coalition of countries announced a series of measures, including preventing weapons transfers to Israel, that it said will bring about an end to Jerusalem’s war against Hamas.
The Wednesday announcement came after a two-day “emergency summit” of the eight-nation Hague Group in Bogotá, Colombia. The Colombian and South African governments co-hosted the gathering.
The Hague Group was formed in January to bring the so-called global south together “to take ‘coordinated legal and diplomatic measures’ against Israel’s violations of international law.”
The group stated that all 30 states at the summit “unanimously agreed that the era of impunity must end, and that international law must be enforced without fear or favor through immediate domestic policies and legislation, along with a unified call for an immediate ceasefire.”
Twelve of the 30 pledged to implement half a dozen measures, including preventing the “provision or transfer” of weapons, military equipment and fuel and dual-use items to Israel.
Vessels thought to be carrying such products to Israel would be barred from transiting or docking at any participating country’s ports, and such vessels won’t be allowed to bear the flag of the 12 states.
Each participating state will also launch “an urgent review” of its public contracts to ensure they don’t support Israel’s “occupation” of Palestinian territory.
States must also “comply with obligations to ensure accountability for the most serious crimes under international law” through independent investigations and support “universal jurisdiction mandates,” which would put Israelis in the crosshairs of any state’s legal pursuits.
The 12 states are Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Indonesia, Iraq, Libya, Malaysia, Namibia, Nicaragua, Oman, South Africa, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Algeria, Botswana, Brazil, Chile, China, Djibouti, Honduras, Ireland, Lebanon, Mexico, Norway, Pakistan, Portugal, Qatar, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, Uruguay and Venezuela also joined the summit, as did the Palestinian Authority.
The group stated that more countries are expected to join the measures on Sept. 20, when the annual, high-level debate week for the United Nations General Assembly takes place. “Consultations with capitals across the world are now ongoing,” the group stated.
Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur whom Washington sanctioned this month for her long history of antisemitic comments, attended the summit. “The clock is now ticking for states, from Europe to the Arab world and beyond, to join them,” Albanese said of the 12 that adopted the new measures.
Many of the countries that attended the summit are critics of the West. Qatar and Turkey are U.S. allies.
A U.S. State Department spokesman told JNS earlier this week that Washington “strongly opposes efforts by so-called ‘multilateral blocs’ to weaponize international law as a tool to advance radical anti-Western agendas.”
The Hague Group “seeks to undermine the sovereignty of democratic nations by isolating and attempting to delegitimize Israel, transparently laying the groundwork for targeting the United States, our military and our allies,” the spokesman said.
The U.S. government “will aggressively defend our interests, our military and our allies, including Israel, from such coordinated legal and diplomatic warfare,” the spokesman told JNS. “We urge our friends to stand with us in this critical endeavor.”
