{"id":42643,"date":"2025-07-16T12:34:24","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T19:34:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=42643"},"modified":"2025-07-16T12:34:25","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T19:34:25","slug":"at-hague-group-emergency-summit-30-nations-seek-to-halt-the-genocide-in-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/07\/16\/at-hague-group-emergency-summit-30-nations-seek-to-halt-the-genocide-in-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"At Hague Group Emergency Summit, 30+ Nations Seek to ‘Halt the Genocide in Gaza’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Francesca<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, speaks during the emergency conference of The Hague Group at the San Carlos Palace in Bogot\u00e1 on July 15, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo: Luis Acosta\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Host nation Colombia’s deputy foreign minister said participants “will not only reaffirm their commitment to opposing genocide, but also formulate concrete steps to move from words to collective action.”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

BRETT WILKINS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jul 15, 2025 (CommonDreams.org)<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ministerial delegates from more than 30 nations gathered in the Colombian capital Bogot\u00e1 Tuesday for an emergency summit focused on “concrete measures” to end Israel’s U.S.-backed genocide in Gaza<\/a> and other crimes against occupied Palestine<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two-day Hague Group summit ultimately aims to “halt the genocide in Gaza” and is led by co-chairs Colombia\u2014which last year severed diplomatic relations<\/a> with Israel\u2014and South Africa, which filed<\/a> the ongoing genocide case against Israel<\/a> at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) joined by around two dozen countries. Progressive International first convened<\/a> the Hague Group in January in the eponymous Dutch city, which is home to both the ICJ and International Criminal Court (ICC), whose rulings the coalition is dedicated to upholding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This summit marks a turning point in the global response to the erosion and violation of international law,” South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola said<\/a> ahead of the gathering. “No country is above the law, and no crime will go unanswered.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colombian Deputy Foreign Minister Mauricio Jaramillo Jassir said before the summit: “The Palestinian genocide threatens the entire international system. Colombia cannot remain indifferent in the face of apartheid and ethnic cleansing. The participating states will not only reaffirm their commitment to opposing genocide, but also formulate concrete steps to move from words to collective action.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/youtube.com\/watch?v=BfZXQK01t-Q%3Frel%3D0\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That action includes enforcement of ICC arrest warrants issued<\/a> last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, his former defense minister, for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza including murder and forced starvation<\/a> in a war that has left more than 211,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing since October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hague Group members Bolivia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, and Senegal will attend the summit. Algeria, Bangladesh, Botswana, Brazil, Chile, China, Djibouti, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Lebanon, Libya, Mexico, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Uruguay, and Venezuela will also take part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notably, so will NATO members and U.S. allies Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and Turkey. Like Israel, the United States denies there is a genocide in Gaza, despite growing international consensus<\/a><\/a> among human rights defenders, jurists, and genocide experts including some of the leading Holocaust scholars in Israel and the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department\u2014which has sanctioned ICC judges<\/a> and United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese<\/a> for seeking accountability for Israeli crimes\u2014told<\/a> Jewish News Syndicate<\/em> Monday 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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The spokesperson added that the Trump administration “will aggressively defend our interests, our military, and our allies, including Israel, from such coordinated legal and diplomatic warfare,” even as U.S. allies take part in the summit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Undaunted by U.S. sanctions, Albanese is among several U.N. experts who spoke at the summit, which she\u00a0hailed<\/a>\u00a0as “the most significant political development in the past 20 months.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/i\/status\/1945186308013359484\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In prepared remarks, Albanese\u2014who earlier this month said<\/a> that “Israel is responsible for one of the cruelest genocides in modern history”\u2014told<\/a> attendees that “for too long, international law has been treated as optional\u2014applied selectively to those perceived as weak, ignored by those acting as the powerful.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This double standard has eroded the very foundations of the legal order,” she argued. “That era must end.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Albanese:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The world will remember what we, states and individuals, did in this moment\u2014whether we recoiled in fear or rose in defense of human dignity. Here in Bogot\u00e1, a growing number of states have the opportunity to break the silence and revert to a path of legality by finally saying: Enough. Enough impunity. Enough empty rhetoric. Enough exceptionalism. Enough complicity. The time has come to act in pursuit of justice and peace\u2014grounded in rights and freedoms for all, and not mere privileges for some, at the expense of the annihilation of others.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Israeli Mission to the United Nations told Jewish News Syndicate<\/em> that “what the event organizers, and perhaps some of the countries attending, forget is what triggered this conflict\u2014namely, the butchering of 1,200 innocent souls on October 7, and how 50 Israelis remain in brutal captivity to this day by Hamas in Gaza.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Attempting to exert pressure on Israel\u2014and not Hamas, who initiated and are prolonging this conflict\u2014is a moral travesty,” the mission added. “The war will not end while hostages remain in Gaza.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the ICC warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, the ICJ\u2014whose ruling in the genocide case is not expected for years\u2014has ordered Israel to prevent genocidal acts<\/a> in Gaza, to stop blocking<\/a> lifesaving humanitarian aid from entering the strip, and to halt its assault<\/a> on Rafah. Israel has ignored<\/a> all three orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The choice before us is stark and unforgiving,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro wrote<\/a> in The Guardian<\/em> last week. “We can either stand firm in defense of the legal principles that seek to prevent war and conflict, or watch helplessly as the international system collapses under the weight of unchecked power politics.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“While we may face threats of retaliation when we stand up for international law\u2014as South Africa discovered when the United States retaliated for its case at the International Court of Justice\u2014the consequences of abdicating our responsibilities will be dire,” Petro continued. “If we fail to act now, we not only betray the Palestinian people, we become complicit in the atrocities committed by Netanyahu’s government.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“For the billions of people in the Global South who rely on international law for protection, the stakes could not be higher,” he added. “The Palestinian people deserve justice. The moment demands courage.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BRETT WILKINS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brett Wilkins is a staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, speaks during the emergency conference of The Hague Group at the San Carlos Palace in Bogot\u00e1 on July 15, 2025. \u00a0(Photo: Luis Acosta\/AFP via Getty Images) Host nation Colombia’s deputy foreign minister said participants… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42643"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42643"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42645,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42643\/revisions\/42645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}