Belgium has formally joined South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention through its military operations in the Gaza Strip.
The Court announced Tuesday that Brussels had submitted a declaration of intervention under Article 63 of the ICJ Statute, making Belgium the latest country to participate in the high-profile proceedings initiated by South Africa in December 2023.
Several other nations have already intervened in the case, including Brazil, Colombia, Ireland, Mexico, Spain and Turkey. Like Belgium, most of these countries are exercising their right as parties to the Genocide Convention to present their views on the interpretation of the treaty’s key provisions.
Belgium’s intervention comes two months after the country officially recognised the State of Palestine in September 2025, aligning itself with the position already held by nearly 80% of UN member states.
The case, formally titled Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel), centres on allegations that Israel’s military campaign following the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023 constitutes genocide.
South Africa argues that the scale of destruction, civilian casualties and humanitarian conditions in Gaza breach the Convention. Israel strongly rejects the accusation, describing the military operation as lawful self-defence against Hamas and denying any genocidal intent.
Since the case began, the ICJ has issued several provisional measures ordering Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent acts of genocide, ensure humanitarian aid reaches Gaza, and prevent the infliction of conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of the Palestinian population in Gaza. Those orders were issued in January, March and May 2024.
While ICJ provisional measures are legally binding, the Court has no direct enforcement mechanism.
Casualty figures remain heavily contested. According to an AFP tally based on official Israeli data, the 7 October 2023 attacks by Hamas killed 1,221 people in Israel, the large majority of them civilians. Gaza’s Health Ministry reports that the subsequent Israeli military campaign has killed 70,369 Palestinians as of mid-December 2025, with most of the fatalities said to be civilians. The UN considers the Gaza Health Ministry figures to be broadly reliable in the current context.
The addition of Belgium brings further diplomatic and legal weight to the proceedings, which are expected to continue for several years as the Court examines both the merits of the genocide claim and the interpretation of the Genocide Convention itself.