Afrasianet - In an unprecedented move, 12 countries from the Global South announced sanctions against Israel in an attempt to end impunity for the systematic killing and destruction in the Palestinian territories, led by the Gaza Strip, according to the participants.
According to Le Monde, these 12 signatories to the final communiqué of the Hague Group in Support of Palestine Conference, which was hosted in the Colombian capital Bogota in two days, are Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Indonesia, Iraq, Libya and Malaysia, in addition to Namibia, Nicaragua, Oman, Saint Vincent - the Grenadines, and South Africa.
The conference was invited by Colombia and South Africa, and included 30 countries from Asia, Latin America and Africa, as well as 5 European countries: Ireland, Spain, Norway, Slovenia and Portugal.
Among the most prominent of these punitive measures is stopping the export of weapons to Israel and preventing the passage of ships carrying them through the ports of these countries.
Le Monde said in a report that one of the most prominent of these punitive measures is to stop the export of weapons to Israel and prevent the passage of ships loaded with them through the ports of these countries.
This is in addition to a comprehensive review of government deals to prevent any financial or institutional support for the Israeli occupation.
The signatories also pledged to facilitate international investigations into crimes committed in Gaza, which, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, have so far left more than 58,000 martyrs, 18,000 of them children, and 12,400 women.
UN Rapporteur Francesca Albanesi, who attended the conference, noted that the initiative represents a "shift in the balance of international positions," describing it as "an attempt to break the paralysis of international law towards grave violations in Palestine."
The five European countries present have not declared their support for the punitive measures, with the possibility of joining before September 20, the date of the UN General Assembly.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who severed ties with Israel in 2024, said during the conference, "Through our courts, ports and institutions, we can counter the vision of a world where the logic of force prevails at the expense of law."
The legal and political action is based on an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice issued in July 2024, which considered the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories illegal and demanded an immediate withdrawal and cessation of settlement construction.
South Africa initiated a case against Israel before the same court in December 2023, accusing it of violating the Genocide Convention.
In contrast, the conference provoked angry reactions from Washington, with the US State Department describing the Hague Group, which is leading this trend, as a "tool for politicizing international law" and accusing it of "serving anti-Western agendas," stressing its support for Israel and its allies "with full force."