Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
Belgium has officially joined the case filed by South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice, marking the latest move by a European state to intervene in proceedings that accuse Israel of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention during its military campaign in the Gaza Strip.
The ICJ announced on Tuesday that Belgium submitted a formal declaration of intervention on 23 December 2025, invoking Article 63 of the court’s statute. This provision allows states that are party to a treaty to intervene in cases involving the interpretation of that treaty. Belgium’s declaration focuses on Articles One through Six of the Genocide Convention, with particular emphasis on the requirement of “specific intent” for the crime of genocide, as defined in Article Two.
Following standard legal procedure, the court has asked both South Africa and Israel to submit written observations on Belgium’s intervention, in accordance with Article 83 of its Rules of Court.
South Africa initially filed the case on 29 December 2023, roughly two months after the 7 October attack carried out by Hamas fighters in southern Israel, which killed about 1,200 people and resulted in the abduction of 251 hostages. Pretoria accuses Israel of breaching its obligations under the Genocide Convention through its military actions in Gaza.
Since the filing of the case, a growing number of countries have sought to join the proceedings, including Brazil, Colombia, Ireland, Mexico, Spain, Libya, Bolivia, and Turkey. Nicaragua also submitted a request to intervene but withdrew it two months later without providing an explanation.
In January 2024, four months into the war, the ICJ issued provisional measures urging Israel to refrain from any acts that could be classified as genocide, warning of a “real and imminent risk” of “irreparable harm” to Palestinians. The court followed up with additional provisional orders in March and May, directing Israel to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza and to prevent and punish incitement to genocide. While these orders are legally binding, the ICJ lacks an effective enforcement mechanism.
Israel has firmly rejected the allegations, dismissing the case as politically motivated and accusing South Africa of adopting what it described as Hamas’s narrative. Israeli officials maintain that the military has made extensive efforts to avoid civilian casualties and argue that Hamas bears responsibility for much of the harm by operating from densely populated residential areas.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas, more than 79,000 people have been killed since the start of the war. The figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants and cannot be independently verified, though the United Nations generally considers the ministry’s data to be broadly reliable. Since a ceasefire came into effect on 10 October, at least 395 additional deaths have been reported.
The Israeli offensive was launched in response to the 7 October attack, when thousands of militants crossed the border into Israel. While all living hostages have since been released and the remains of most of those killed have been returned, the body of hostage Ran Gvili has not yet been recovered, despite the ceasefire.
Belgium’s intervention comes months after it formally recognized the State of Palestine in September, joining a group of countries that have taken similar steps. Overall, an estimated 80 percent of United Nations member states now recognize Palestine as a state, underscoring the growing internationalization of the legal and political battle surrounding the Gaza war.
