Spain has requested to intervene in South Africa's genocide case against Israel's actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on Thursday.
Spain joins a small number of other countries that have said they wish to intervene, including Ireland, which, along with Spain and Norway, officially recognized a Palestinian state last week.
Albares said Madrid wanted to support the ICJ in its implementation of measures, including an order to Israel to cease its military operation in Rafah in southern Gaza, but gave few details of what its requested intervention would entail.
"We are doing it (requesting to intervene) because of our commitment to international law, in our desire to support the court in its work and strengthen the United Nations, supporting the role of the court as the maximum legal entity in the system," he told a press conference in Madrid.
"We want to support the court in the implementation of the precautionary measures, in particular, the cessation of military operations in Rafah in order to restore peace, the cessation of obstacles to the entry of humanitarian aid, and the cessation of the destruction of civilian infrastructure."
The ICJ's recent order
The ICJ is the highest United Nations legal body, established in 1945 to deal with disputes between states.
The ICJ judges' order to Israel last month to immediately halt its military assault on Rafah was a landmark emergency ruling following South Africa's decision to bring a case against Israel, accusing it of genocide.
Israel has repeatedly dismissed the case's accusations of genocide as baseless, arguing in court that its operations in Gaza are self-defense and targeted at Hamas terrorists who attacked Israel on Oct. 7. It says it is trying to root out Hamas fighters in Rafah.
Hamas welcomes the move
Hamas celebrated Spain's decision in a subsequent press statement.
"The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) welcomes the announcement of Spain’s joining the lawsuit of South Africa before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the Zionist entity's (Israel) committing of the crime of genocide against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip," Hamas stated.
"We consider this announcement, in addition to the joining of many other countries to the lawsuit, would strengthen international justice in its prosecution of the occupying entity that commits the most horrific crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity. "We call on countries around the world to join the lawsuit filed against the criminal Zionist entity, which continues to kill and commit massacres with the intention of genocide and ethnic cleansing, despite the precautionary decisions of the ICJ."