U.S. American allies, including Qatar and Turkey, and several U.N. officials are scheduled to participate in a 20-country summit that proposes to take “concrete measures” against Israel.
The “emergency summit” is to take place at the foreign affairs ministry on July 15-16 in Bogotá, Colombia.
Colombia and South Africa are co-hosting the summit as co-chairs of the Hague Group, an eight-state gathering that was launched in January and that “united in the Netherlands to take ‘coordinated legal and diplomatic measures’ against Israel’s violations of international law,” according to its site.
The eight nations are Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, Senegal and South Africa. The group’s site states that at the summit, “states will announce concrete actions to enforce international law through coordinated state action to end the genocide and ensure justice and accountability.”
A U.S. State Department spokesperson told JNS that the United States “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 spokesperson said, adding that the U.S. government, “will aggressively defend our interests, our military and our allies, including Israel, from such coordinated legal and diplomatic warfare. We urge our friends to stand with us in this critical endeavor.”
The Israeli mission to the United Nations told JNS, “What the event organizers, and perhaps some of the countries attending, forget is what triggered this conflict—namely, the butchering of 1,200 innocent souls on Oct. 7 and how 50 Israelis remain in brutal captivity to this day by Hamas in Gaza.”
“Attempting to exert pressure on Israel—and not Hamas, who initiated and are prolonging this conflict—is a moral travesty,” it added. “The war will not end while hostages remain in Gaza.”
Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), is slated to address the conference via video message. Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur for the Palestinians, whom Washington sanctioned last week, is reportedly expected to participate.
Several states slated to attend have led or joined the International Criminal Court case against Israel for its prosecution of the war against Hamas, or have worked to block weapons shipments destined for Israel.
Colombia cut diplomatic ties with Israel in May 2024.
Algeria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, China, Djibouti, Honduras, Indonesia, Ireland, Lebanon, Nicaragua, Oman, Portugal, Qatar, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Spain, Turkey and Uruguay will reportedly participate in the summit, as will the Palestinian Authority.
