Mexico asks the ICJ to authorize its intervention in the case against Israel for genocide

The Mexican Government asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to authorize its intervention in the procedure initiated by South Africa against Israel, which is accused of violating the Genocide Convention with its war in Gaza, a case for which this court issued precautionary measures against the Jewish State on three occasions.

As announced today by the ICJ, Mexico officially presented its request on the 24th and explained, among its reasoning, that “it seeks to intervene, in order to provide its opinion on the possible interpretation of the content of the provisions of the Convention relevant to this case.” ”, started on December 29 in an attempt to prevent a genocide in Gaza.

“Mexico agrees that genocide can also be perpetrated in the context of armed conflicts, and that the vulnerability of civilian populations in such situations, as well as the permissibility of the use of force, can be used to attempt to justify atrocities and facilitate the means to commit genocide,” the Mexican Government stated in the request.

Furthermore, he stressed that “recognizing and proving” the element of intentionality is “fundamental to preventing and addressing the grave atrocity of genocide, ensuring justice for victims and maintaining international legal standards.”

To this end, it maintains that it is necessary to examine under this Convention the Israeli denial of humanitarian aid access to the civilian population of the Strip, “to the extent that it creates living conditions calculated to cause serious bodily and mental harm to the members of a group (the Palestinians), as well as to cause its partial or total physical destruction.”

“Policies that involve the denial of humanitarian access result in famine, which, throughout history, has been used as a means of war and which may be closely linked to the genocidal intent described,” Mexico added.

When questioning the interpretation of a convention also signed by States other than those involved in the case (Israel and South Africa), these third countries also have the right to intervene in the process and offer their legal opinion on how the treaty should be interpreted.

Following the procedure indicated by the ICJ rules, the court has now invited South Africa and Israel to submit written observations on Mexico’s request.

Nicaragua and Colombia also asked the ICJ to authorize its intervention in this case.

As part of this case, the ICJ last Friday ordered Israel to “immediately stop its military offensive” in Rafah to avoid “the total or partial physical destruction” of the Palestinians of Gaza as a group protected by the Genocide Convention, and “take effective measures to ensure the unimpeded entry” of humanitarian aid.

In addition, it demanded that he guarantee access for expert missions to investigate allegations of genocide.

The ICJ warned that “the fundamental values” and “rights” of the Palestinians that the Convention “seeks to protect” are of “such a nature that harm to them is capable of causing irreparable harm” to that population.

He also considered that there is “urgency” and “real and imminent risk” that such damage will occur, which forces the court to issue precautionary measures.