Spain has decided to join South Africa's genocide case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over Israel's brutal war on Gaza, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said Thursday.
Spain is the first European nation to join the case, which has also been joined by Chile and Mexico.
"Our sole goal is to put an end to the war and to advance on the road of applying the two-state solution," Albares said at a press conference.
His statement came a week after Spain, along with Ireland and Norway, recognized the state of Palestine, sparking fury from Israel.
South Africa brought the case before the International Court of Justice last year, accusing that Israel's Gaza offensive breached the 1948 U.N. Genocide Convention.
Israel has strongly denied the accusation.
Set up after World War II, the Hague-based ICJ rules in disputes between states.
The ICJ on Friday ordered Israel to ensure "unimpeded access" to U.N.-mandated investigators to look into allegations of genocide.
In a ruling on Jan. 26, the ICJ also ordered Israel to do everything it could to prevent acts of genocide during its military operation in Gaza.
But South Africa has since returned several times to the ICJ arguing that the dire humanitarian situation in the territory compels the court to issue further fresh emergency measures.
On May 24, the court ordered Israel to "immediately" halt its military offensive in the city of Rafah and keep open the key border crossing there for "unhindered" humanitarian aid.
It also called for the "unconditional" release of hostages taken by Palestinian resistance group Hamas during its Oct. 7 incursion that sparked the war.
ICJ rulings are legally binding but the court has no concrete means to enforce them. For instance, it ordered Russia to halt its invasion of Ukraine, to no avail.
