CAGE International attends civil society meeting with The Hague Group on global strategy to hold Israel accountable  

CAGE International on Friday was amongst a group of civil society organisations from around the world who participated in a meeting addressed by members of ‘The Hague Group’ to rally global support for Palestine.

The meeting followed a 34 nation ministerial discussion hosted by The Hague Group in New York during the 80th United Nations General Assembly.

The ministerial discussion took place at the same time that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to the podium at the General Assembly, cutting an isolated figure as most diplomats walked out.

Co-chairs of The Hague Group, Colombian President Gustavo Petro and South Africa’s International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola, presented a “model for all states to fulfil their legal obligations” to end the Gaza genocide.

The meeting discussed how this global strategy to cut “ties of complicity” with Israel in the arms, finance and energy sectors could be supported by civil society using coordinated enforcement through “courts, ports, contracts, factories and financial systems”.

CAGE International’s legal researcher Rayan Freschi, who attended the meeting, said:

“The event underscored how nations of the Global South – shaped by their own historic anti-colonial struggles – are now taking the lead in confronting Israel’s genocide in Gaza. It was a refreshing change from the usual rhetoric of condemnation from the international community without any commitment to action.”

“Just as states across the world are now coordinating more strongly at a governmental level, there needs to be increased coordination and solidarity between civil society and ordinary people globally in further isolating apartheid Israel, as well those within their home countries propping up the genocide.”