Belgian minister vows backing for genocide case against Israel

Riyadh: A Belgian minister has offered her country's support for South Africa's case filed with the International Court of Justice to stop Israel's violence in Gaza.

In a post on X on Sunday, Caroline Gennez, Belgium's minister of development cooperation, said, “If the International Court of Justice calls on #Israel to cease its military campaign in #Gaza, our country will fully support it.”

In a previous on the same platform, she said: “Belgium pleads in the EU and internationally for a permanent ceasefire, full humanitarian access, unconditional release of the hostages, respect for international law and a two-state solution as structural solution to this conflict.”

She noted that Belgium’s position was a “step in the right direction.”

Gennez added: “Our country is taking its responsibility, for human rights and humanitarian law. Meanwhile, I remain committed at all levels to making full humanitarian access to #Gaza a reality as soon as possible.”

South Africa has urged the International Court of Justice to order Israel to terminate the conflict immediately, citing Israeli activities as "genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part" of the Palestinians in Gaza.

It stated that Israel's war on Gaza breached the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The convention was set up in the aftermath of World War II when more than 6 million Jews were estimated to have been killed by Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime in Germany.

Genocide, as defined in the convention, are act such as killing “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group.”

According to Palestinian sources, the death toll in Gaza has reached 24,000 on January 15, more than 100 days into Israel's assault against Hamas.

Israel launched a full-scale assault on the Palestinian enclave in response to Hamas' surprise assault on southern Israel on October 7, which killed 1,200 people and abducted 250 military officers and civilians.

The hearings were held before the court in The Hague on January 11 and 12, during which South Africa presented their case and Israel stood to counter the claims.

Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Petra De Sutter “also made a similar call and said her country could not remain silent against Israel’s threat of genocide in Gaza and urged support for the lawsuit filed by South Africa.”

She reportedly said: “Belgium cannot just watch from the sidelines the endless suffering of the people in Gaza. We must act against the threat of genocide.

“I want Belgium to follow South Africa’s lead and take action at the International Court of Justice. I will make this proposal to the Belgian government.”