Maldives files Declaration of Intervention against Israel at ICJ case

Maldives officially submitted a Declaration of Intervention in the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel) at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) yesterday.

A statement issued by the Attorney General's Office said that Attorney General Ahmed Usham filed the Declaration on behalf of Maldives.

The case was originally submitted to the ICJ by South Africa on December 29, 2023, alleging that Israel's acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza violates the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention).

"The Maldives focuses its intervention on the proper construction of the provisions concerning the incitement to commit genocide and the duty to punish the incitement of genocide in Articles I, III, IV and VI of the Genocide Convention, and also intervenes on the proper construction of Articles II and IX of the Genocide Convention," the Attorney General's Office said.

"Acknowledging that its intervention is limited to construction of the provisions of the Genocide Convention, the Government of Maldives in other international forums, continues to condemn Israel’s multiple, serious violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which amounts to genocide and apartheid," the office further said.

As such, the Office called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire. The Attorney General's Office also reaffirmed its stance in favour of the Palestinian people's inalienable rights and the establishment of a sovereign and independent State of Palestine, based on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

While Maldives has always been vocal about its support of the Palestinian cause, most recently, President Dr Mohamed Muizzu, in his address at the General Debate of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly categorised Israel's actions in Gaza as an ongoing massacre and genocide. He also called for Israel to be held accountable for its acts of terrorism and violation of international law and the UN resolutions.

Since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,000 Israelis and took 250 hostages, Israel has launched military operations resulting in the deaths of over 41,000 Palestinians. These attacks are part of a continued genocide, ethnic cleansing and apartheid against the Palestinian people, dating back to as early as the 1948 Nakba.

Although South Africa's case resulted in the ICJ issuing six provisional measures against Israel, including ordering Israel to stop the Genocide in Gaza, Israel shows no sign of stopping, now expanding their military operations to Lebanon as well.