By Ivonne A.
An emergency meeting convened by the Hague Group was held in Bogotá, Colombia, on July 15 and 16.
Founded in February 2025 by the presidents of Colombia and South Africa, the group includes nine states: Belize, Bolivia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, Senegal, and South Africa.
The group coordinates legal, diplomatic, and economic measures to hold Israel accountable for alleged violations of international law, including genocide, war crimes, and occupation of Palestinian territories. The group’s strategy is to enforce international law and the decisions of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Representatives from 32 countries attended the meeting, including the founding members of the Hague Group, as well as other states and observers. Among them were Algeria, Brazil, Chile, China, Egypt, Spain, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Lebanon, Libya, Mexico, Nicaragua, Portugal, Qatar, Turkey, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Although Spain did not officially endorse the final declaration, Second Vice President Yolanda Díaz announced her support for it. Brazil also attended as an observer. Mexico was conspicuous by its absence, despite sending a written communication.
Those in attendance included figures such as Francesca Albanese of Italy, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories. She played a prominent role in presenting expert testimony and participating in the closing ceremony. She was sanctioned by the United States a few days before the meeting. These sanctions, which we and the pro-Palestinian movement around the world must condemn, include a travel ban to the United States, asset freezing, and a ban on any U.S. person or company doing business with her. The sanctions are part of an imperialist policy aimed at repressing resistance and solidarity with Palestine, as well as silencing denunciations of crimes committed by any means necessary.
In attendance were Jeremy Corbyn, a member of the UK Parliament; Rima Hassan, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP); and Andrés Macías Tolosa, a member of the UN Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries. Representatives of other organizations, such as ALBA Movimientos and La Vía Campesina, participated in parallel events and launched the coalition “Friends of the Hague Group” (FOTHG).
Colombia, led by Gustavo Petro and Deputy Foreign Minister Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio, chaired the event.
The emergency meeting was more than justified
The objectives of the emergency meeting convened in Bogotá are just and urgent: to stop the genocide and apartheid. Although 60,000 deaths have been officially recognized, experts estimate that at least 160,000 people have been killed, primarily women and children. For several months, water and energy supplies have been cut off, and the occupying army controls food deliveries, carrying out daily massacres at delivery points.
We recognize this call as an important step and appreciate the political weight of several heads of state trying to stop the genocide. South Africa’s role as a leader in this process is important to highlight, as it has the prestige of having overcome apartheid through internal resistance and an international campaign of denunciation, as well as the BDS policy.
Israel has never been less politically legitimate, nor has the suffering and oppression of the Palestinian people ever been worse. International mobilization and rejection are essential to defeating apartheid and genocide, as South Africa’s case has shown.
The meeting
The meeting’s key discussion points were the denunciation of the dire situation in Gaza, the use of hunger as a weapon of war, attacks on civilians, damage to historical and cultural heritage, and actions described as genocidal.
Francesca Albanese urged states to sever all ties with Israel—diplomatic, military, and commercial—which is a demand that the IWL and PST Colombia have made since the beginning of this phase of the Nakba. She also criticized Western states, particularly the European Union, for being complicit in human rights violations.
As in previous statements by the Hague Group, its strategy remains the defense of international law and the UN Charter. The group promotes the self-determination of the Palestinian people and respect for the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The group also supports the actions of the International Criminal Court (ICC), including the arrest warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Participants discussed concrete measures to halt the supply of arms and military equipment to Israel, review public contracts that support the occupation, and ensure accountability for serious crimes. One proposal was to prohibit the boarding of ships for military purposes in ports under the participating states’ jurisdiction.
Street protests by the pro-Palestinian movement accompanied the meeting. Our party, PST Colombia, joined the protests, demanding that Colombia break off commercial and military relations. Diplomatic relations were already severed in 2024. However, Petro’s leadership as Colombia’s representative in the Hague group contrasts sharply with the continuation of commercial and military relations. In Colombia, police and military forces continue to use technology from Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest producer of highly lethal weapons. Elbit Systems has also been present at the ExpoDefensa fair, offering its weapons with total impunity. Similarly, coal exports have been documented. According to Tadamun Antimili, 18 ships carrying approximately 1,000 tons of coal were sent to Israel between October 2024 and March 2025.
Sanctions against Israel
The Emergency Meeting of the Hague Group culminated in a joint statement including six measures to be implemented by September 20, 2025. So far, 12 countries have officially signed it, and the rest are still in consultation. These measures are:
1) Ban on arms supplies: Prevent the supply, transfer, and transport of arms, ammunition, military fuel, related military equipment, and dual-use equipment to Israel. This includes preventing the transport of arms, ammunition, and fuel to Israel on ships flying the signatory countries’ flags and ensuring accountability for failing to provide aid or assistance that contributes to maintaining Israel’s “illegal” presence in Palestinian territory.
Review of public contracts: Review all public contracts to ensure they do not support Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.
Prevent the transit of military vessels. Prohibit the docking and transit of military vessels in ports under the jurisdiction of participating states.
Accountability: Support universal jurisdiction mandates and ICC investigations to ensure accountability for the most serious crimes.
Support the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Back ongoing legal actions, such as South Africa’s case against Israel for violating the Genocide Convention.
Strengthen multilateral cooperation. Promote coordinated, collective action to defend international law and the self-determination of the Palestinian people.
The Bogotá meeting was a necessary but insufficient step
While the Bogotá meeting raised awareness of the genocide and humanitarian crisis and advanced some sanctions against Israel, it unfortunately was not enough. While it is a politically significant event, its practical scope is limited due to the non-participation and opposition of the imperialist powers.
Similarly, by adopting the defense of the UN charter as its strategy, the Group’s proposal amounts to a commitment to the “democratization of Israel” and defending institutions, such as the ICC, that have demonstrated an inability to stop the genocide. Due to the nature of the occupation of Palestine, it is impossible to reform or change the character of the State of Israel because it is an imperialist colonial enclave with a transplanted population that has plans to expand in the Middle East and can only survive by waging permanent war.
Contrary to President Petro’s beliefs, we do not believe a “two-state solution” is possible because it requires the Palestinian population to accept the theft of much of their territory, be evicted, renounce the return of refugees, and legitimize a historical crime. Even if the killing stops for now, Israel’s existence means maintaining the apartheid regime, which can only disappear in a single, secular, democratic, and non-racist Palestine.
The IWL and PST Colombia support the mobilization and condemn the attempts by U.S. imperialism to prevent it. After the meeting, we demand concrete measures for a boycott, sanctions, and divestment. This implies the immediate cessation of coal exports and the acquisition of Zionist military technology, which is used to repress the working class and the oppressed in several countries, including Colombia and Brazil. It also implies the termination of free trade agreements with Israel. The other countries attending the meeting must take equivalent measures.
At the end of the meeting, Petro publicly committed to suspending coal exports. He stated that Colombia accounts for 62% of Israel’s coal supply. He also committed to reviewing all contracts involving Israeli companies. We demand compliance with these measures, including those with Elbit Systems.
However, these measures will be ineffective if they are not extended and generalized. The Group must promote a campaign for all leaders of the so-called “Global South,” especially progressive leaders like Lula in Brazil and Sheimbaum in Mexico, to immediately break relations with Israel, join the Hague Group, and collaborate to stop the genocide against the Palestinian people.
Additionally, we must demand an immediate end to the Israeli-U.S. food distribution plan in Gaza. This plan has been used to commit massacres by luring Gazans to collect food, only to kill them. The Hague Group could be responsible for distributing humanitarian aid, which could be collected from member countries. A campaign could be launched to demand entry into Gaza. To achieve this, a major day of international mobilization must be promoted. While diplomatic action is important, it is insufficient. This is why we call for continued solidarity with Palestine in the streets around the world.
For a free Palestine, from the river to the sea!
For an end to the Zionist State of Israel!
Stop the genocide, and down with apartheid!
References:
https://www.rtvcnoticias.com/internaciona/conferencia-grupo-haya-concluyo-con-sanciones-israel
