The Hague Group — representing Bolivia, Cuba, Colombia, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia and South Africa — formed on January 31 to hold Israel accountable under international law for its illegal occupation of Palestine and ongoing genocide against the Palestinians.
Representatives of the seven nations met in The Hague, Netherlands, to form the group and issued a statement stressing their countries' commitment to uphold international obligations to “end the Israeli occupation of the State of Palestine and support the realisation of the inalienable right of the Palestinian People to self-determination”.
The statement cited the rulings made by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) about Israel’s “perpetration of crimes of genocide” in Palestine, as well as the International Criminal Court’s issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity.
The signatories committed to complying with international obligations to prevent the supply of weapons to Israel, pointing to a 1986 United Nations Security Council resolution that imposed an international arms embargo against Apartheid South Africa as a precedent.
Signatories also intend to prevent the docking of ships carrying military fuel or weapons to Israel, which they say is “in keeping with states’ peremptory legal obligation to cooperate towards preventing genocide”.
Finally, they called on all countries to join The Hague Group “in the solemn commitment to an international order based on the rule of law and international law” based on principles of justice.
The Hague Group’s formation was supported and welcomed by various human rights groups and grassroots movements.
La Via Campesina — an international anti-capitalist movement representing millions of peasants, small-scale farmers and Indigenous peoples — welcomed the group’s formation in a February 12 statement that said the group “marks a historic and urgent intervention in the fight against impunity and the ongoing genocide committed against the Palestinian people”.
The movement condemned United States President Donald Trump’s call to forcibly displace Palestinians in Gaza and convert the city into a US-owned “Riviera of the Middle East”.
It also called on all governments to join The Hague Group and urged all La Via Campesina member organisations and allied movements to publicly support and mobilise in favour of the group’s efforts — to ensure that it “leads to concrete political and legal actions against Israeli impunity”.
“The time for symbolic gestures has passed — concrete action is now required to dismantle the structures of occupation, apartheid and settler-colonialism.”
International action
While the world’s biggest powers have remained silent or actively supported Israel’s ongoing genocide, The Hague Group member countries have been among the most vocal in condemning the Zionist state.
Bolivia was the first country to completely cut diplomatic ties with Israel over its brutal war on Gaza, which started in October 2023. Soon after, Honduras and Colombia withdrew their ambassadors from Tel Aviv, and Colombia cut ties with Israel in May last year.
South Africa brought a case against Israel in the ICJ in December 2023 for violating the United Nations’ Genocide Convention. The Hague Group members Bolivia, Colombia and Namibia later joined the case, which eventually found that Israel’s occupation of Palestine clearly violates international law.
Malaysia banned all Israeli ships from docking in the country from December 2023, and also donated millions of dollars in aid to Gaza.
Namibia blocked a ship carrying weapons destined for Israel from docking in the country last year, fulfilling its obligations under international law as a signatory to the Genocide Convention.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has been vocal in condemning Israel’s genocide and was one of the first countries to take concrete action by suspending coal exports to the Zionist state in June.
The Cuban people and government following the revolution have consistently stood in solidarity with the Palestinians, offering material support to the resistance and granting free places for Palestinians to study in Cuba.
Ongoing humanitarian crisis
Despite a ceasefire coming into effect in January — which Israel consistently violated — the devastating impacts of the war on Gaza require Israel to be held accountable and material support for Palestinian self-determination.
The Lancet medical journal estimates that Israel’s war on Gaza killed 64,260 people between October 7, 2023, and June 30 last year — mostly women and children.
Israel’s deliberate destruction of hospitals, schools, agricultural land, water and sanitation facilities and refugee camps has created an urgent humanitarian crisis for returning Gazans — 90% of whom were displaced.
Israel destroyed or damaged 69% of all buildings in Gaza, including 92% of homes and 88% of schools.
Israel destroyed 75% of Gaza’s cropland, 68% of agricultural wells, 72% of the fishing fleet and killed 95% of Gaza’s cattle. As a result, more than 96% of babies and women are not meeting their nutrient requirements and about 91% of the population is facing “acute food insecurity”.
This fits with Israel’s strategy of starvation as a tool of genocide, as it continues blocking humanitarian aid — food, water, fuel and medicine — from entering Gaza. Israel also banned the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in January, which is the most important humanitarian organisation providing education, healthcare, housing and material aid in Palestine.
The scale of Israel’s destruction of Gaza, along with its ongoing genocide against Palestinians — including escalating attacks in the occupied West Bank — means that international movements to isolate the Zionist state remain urgent.