Brazil joins SA’s genocide case against Israel at ICJ. Image: File
(The Post News) – The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has confirmed that Brazil has filed a formal declaration of intervention in the case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of violating the Genocide Convention in Gaza. As the situation continues to worsen in Gaza, it has announced that it will join South Africa in its case against Israel.
The ICJ confirmed that Brazil lodged its declaration on 17 September 2025, invoking Article 63 of the Court’s Statute. Under Article 63, states that are parties to a convention under interpretation in ICJ proceedings have the right to intervene. Brazil said it was exercising this right as a party to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
In its submission, it argued that the court’s interpretation of Articles I, II, and III of the Convention was at stake and offered its legal views on the matter. The ICJ noted that any construction given in its eventual judgment would be equally binding on Brazil, AA reported.
Brazil Among Many Other States Joining in on the Case
South Africa first filed the case on December 29, 2023, and the ICJ has since ordered several sets of provisional measures requiring Israel to prevent acts of genocide and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. Brazil joins a growing list of states intervening in the case, including Colombia, Libya, Mexico, Spain, Turkey, Chile, the Maldives, Bolivia, Ireland, Cuba, and Belize.
The court has invited South Africa and Israel to provide written observations on Brazil’s intervention, in line with Article 83 of the Rules of Court. The ICJ, based in The Hague, is the principal judicial organ of the UN and adjudicates legal disputes between states. Gaza City is under the heaviest wave of Israeli attacks since the war began.
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