What remains of the international order? For more than 500 days, Israel, enabled by powerful nations providing diplomatic cover, military hardware, and political support, has systematically violated international law in Gaza. This complicity has dealt a devastating blow to the integrity of the United Nations Charter and its foundational principles of human rights, sovereign equality, and the prohibition of genocide. A system that permits the killing of an estimated 61,000 people is not merely failing—it has failed.
The evidence, livestreamed to our phones and assessed by the world’s top courts, is unequivocal. From the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories to the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Israel’s top leaders to the preliminary measures issued in the Genocide Convention case brought by South Africa, Israel’s actions constitute clear violations of international law.
Yet, despite these rulings, the violations persist, enabled by nations that brazenly challenge the world’s top courts—with sanctions on officials, employees, and agents of the ICC and open defiance of the court’s orders.
The assault against the Palestinian people echoes dark chapters in our own countries’ histories — South Africa under apartheid, Colombia during counterinsurgency, and Malaysia under colonial rule. These struggles remind us that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We may hail from different continents, but we share the conviction that complacency is complicity in such crimes. The defense of the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination is a collective responsibility.
That is why, alongside Bolivia, Colombia, Honduras, and Namibia, we have launched the Hague Group, a coalition committed to taking decisive, coordinated action in pursuit of accountability for Israel’s crimes.
The Hague Group’s three inaugural commitments are driven by twin imperatives: the end of impunity and the defense of humanity.
Our governments will comply with the warrants issued by the ICC against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, emphasizing appropriate, fair, and independent investigations and prosecutions at the national or international level; we will prevent vessels carrying military supplies to Israel from using our ports; and we will prevent all arms transfers that risk enabling further violations of humanitarian law.
In an interconnected world, the mechanisms of injustice are found in the fabric of global supply chains. Advanced weaponry cannot be built without metals, components, technology, and logistics networks that span continents. By coordinating our policies, we aim to build a bulwark to defend international law.
We believe in protagonism, not supplication. The choice is stark: Either we act together to enforce international law or we risk its collapse. We choose to act, not only for the people of Gaza but for the future of a world where justice prevails over impunity.
Let this moment mark the beginning of a renewed commitment to internationalism and the principles that bind us as a global community.
In solidarity,
Gustavo Petro
President of Colombia
Anwar Ibrahim
Prime Minister of Malaysia
Cyril Ramaphosa
President of South Africa