Cuba joins South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at ICJ

Cuba has officially declared its intention to intervene in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the court announced yesterday.

The case concerns the application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in Gaza.

Under Article 63 of the ICJ Statute, any state party to a convention being interpreted in a case has the right to intervene. The court’s interpretation in such cases becomes binding on all intervening states, as well as the original parties.

“Cuba, invoking Article 63 of the Statute of the Court, filed in the Registry of the Court a declaration of intervention in the case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip,” the court said in a statement.

In accordance with the court’s procedures, South Africa and Israel have been invited to submit written observations on Cuba’s intervention, as per Article 83 of the ICJ’s rules.

The case began on 29 December 2023, when South Africa initiated legal proceedings against Israel, accusing it of genocide in Gaza. Several countries, including Nicaragua, Colombia, Libya, Mexico, Palestine, Spain, Turkiye and Ireland, have since joined the case.

The ICJ has since demanded Israel take all measures within its power to prevent genocide and the incitement of genocide, while it continues to investigate the claims made against the occupation state.

READ: South Africa calls on Israel to end its ‘genocidal aggression’ in Gaza