Spain has asked a United Nations court for permission to join South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.
South Africa filed its case with the International Court of Justice late last year.
It alleged that Israel was breaching the genocide convention in its military campaign which has flattened large parts of Gaza. Spain is the first European country to formally request to join the legal action.
The court has already ordered Israel to immediately halt its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah but stopped short of ordering a cease-fire for the enclave.
Israel has not complied and has indicated it would continue.
“There should be no doubt that Spain will remain on the right side of history,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said after the announcement that the country was putting itself forward.
Mexico, Colombia, Nicaragua, Libya and the Palestinians are waiting for the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, to grant approval to their requests to join the case.
More than 140 countries have recognised a Palestinian stat but none of the major Western powers, including the has done so.
While Sánchez has condemned the attacks by Hamas and joined demands for the return of the remaining Israeli hostages, he has not shied away from the diplomatic backlash from Israel.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that by recognising a Palestinian state, Sánchez’s government was “being complicit in inciting genocide against Jews and war crimes.”
There have been university campus protests in support of Gaza similar to those in the US.
Since Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October killing more than 1,200 people and snatching hostages, many who still have not been released, Gaza has been ravaged by war.
More than 32,000 Gazans, many woman and children, have been killed by Israel, according to the Hmas run health ministry in the territory.
More than one million people have fled Rafah since the start of the operation, scattering across southern and central Gaza into new tent camps or crowding into schools and homes.
Netanyahu is also facing a separate legal challenge from the International Criminal Court, whose prosecutor is seeking an arrest warrant against the Israeli leader and others, including leaders of the Hamas militant group. The U.N. General Assembly endorses the ICC, but the court is independent.
Preliminary hearings have already been held in the genocide case against Israel, but the court is expected to take years to reach a final decision.
