Malaysia joins global Gaza emergency conference in Colombia
The event, co-hosted by Colombia and South Africa under The Hague Group, includes nations such as Algeria, Brazil, China, Cuba, and Indonesia.
The Hague Group Secretariat stated that the July 15-16 conference represents the most ambitious multilateral effort yet to challenge Israel's actions in Gaza and enforce international law compliance.
'It is part of the effort to strengthen multilateral support for accountability and justice for the Palestinian people,' the group said.
UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese called the gathering a historic turning point.
'The Bogota conference will go down as the moment in history that states finally stood up to do the right thing,' she said, praising The Hague Group's formation as the most significant political development in 20 months.
Albanese is expected to critique the international system's failure to protect Palestinians and the selective enforcement of international law.
'For too long, international law has been treated as optional—applied selectively to the weak and ignored by the powerful,' she noted ahead of the conference. She will also address recent US sanctions against her and emphasize the UN Charter as a moral and legal guide.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro stressed the need to shift 'from condemnation to collective action,' while Vice Foreign Minister Mauricio Jaramillo Jassir warned that alleged genocide in Gaza endangers global legal norms.
The conference follows The Hague Group's formation earlier this year. Its eight founding members, including Malaysia, committed to upholding ICJ provisional measures on Gaza, preventing arms transfers to Israel, and blocking military supply vessels.
The event also seeks to implement the ICJ's 2024 advisory opinion and UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/ES-10/24 by September 2025. - Bernama
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
2 hours ago
- New Straits Times
West Bank Christian village prays for help after Israeli settler attacks
TAYBEH, Palestinian Territories: Clerics and diplomats walked as if in a religious procession through the streets of Taybeh, a small Christian village in the occupied West Bank where residents blame Israeli settlers for a spate of recent attacks. In cassocks and suits respectively, they answered the call from the local town hall and priests to meet residents affected by the violence and to see for themselves the arson damage on the remains of a Byzantine church. "It became every day more clear that there is no law. The only law is power," said Jerusalem's Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa. "Israeli authorities have a role to play in conducting the necessary investigations to find the perpetrators and charge them," French Consul General in Jerusalem Nicolas Kassianides said. As he walked through the village on Monday, a resident thanked the French diplomat for his presence at the previous olive harvest -- a common practice for Israeli activists and foreigners hoping their presence will deter settler attacks on Palestinians. The European Union's representative in the Palestinian Territories, Alexandre Stutzmann, pointed to the sanctions imposed by the bloc on certain settlers and their organisations, and said attacks were "undermining the process for peace". DAILY PROVOCATIONS The United Nations keeps a record of the routine violence committed by some of the nearly half a million Israeli settlers who live in the West Bank, excluding annexed east Jerusalem. Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are deemed illegal under international law. From July 1-7, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, documented at least 27 settler attacks against Palestinians. In the villages and communities around Taybeh, Palestinian authorities reported that settlers had killed three people and damaged or destroyed multiple water sources in the past two weeks alone. The July 7 arson attack on the remains of the Church of Saint George, which date back to the 5th century, was the last straw for many villagers. "We struggle with daily provocations," said Father Bashar Basiel as he described the damage done to village lands by the settlers' livestock, or the aggressive visits by young hardliners. "How long will these attacks last?" he asked. On the sidelines of the visit, residents and officials exchanged photographs and videos of recent attacks and the damage done. Many questioned how the situation could have got so bad in a quiet village known more for its beer festival and picturesque alleyways than political activism or confrontations with the Israeli army. "We want peace," local elders recited like a mantra from the sidelines of Monday's procession. SETTLER VIOLENCE Yet few harbour hope that Monday's visit will change the direction in which Taybeh seems headed. Daoud Khoury, Taybeh's mayor for eight years, asked the foreign guests how they could combat settler violence "in concrete terms" and "protect Christians". "In my opinion, the answer is that they can't do much", Khoury said later in the visit. He said he feared the worsening security situation would prompt more local families to emigrate abroad, severing the connection between Palestinians and their land. "What do people need? They need a roof over their head and they need a job," said Khoury, who is now in his seventies. "That's what I expected from the patriarchs. You know, trying to create jobs, trying to build houses." Like most of Taybeh's elderly residents, he has no plans to leave but feels powerless in the face of gradual settler expansion. "This is something that's been going on for a while but right now it's expanding... they're just going everywhere, even closer, very close to the houses," he said. Implicit is the fear that few residents dare to speak out loud -- the potential disappearance of the village. From a corner of the local cemetery that was also damaged by a fire blamed on settlers, Qassam Muaddi pointed to the latest Israeli settlements on the horizon. The young journalist was irritated by the day's formalities and said he felt like the situation had reached a deadend. "The message that we are getting (from the international community) is that we don't matter... and that whether or not we still exist in the coming 50 years doesn't change anything," he said. - AFP
Barnama
3 hours ago
- Barnama
UNRWA Warns Of Israeli Plan To Create 'Mass Internment Camps' In Southern Gaza
RAMALLAH (Palestine), July 15 (Bernama-WAFA) -- The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) media advisor, Adnan Abu Hasna in Gaza, has raised alarm over Israel's reported plans to establish what it calls a "humanitarian city" in southern Gaza. Palestinian News and Information Agency (WAFA) reported that he warned that the initiative is essentially a blueprint for mass internment camps. In a press statement, Abu Hasna said Israel has long been laying the groundwork for such a plan through the establishment of aid distribution points in southern Gaza. 'Now, they are openly declaring their intent to forcibly displace the population of Gaza into collective detention camps in Rafah, as a prelude to their expulsion from Palestinian land,' he stated. He warned that this development signals Israel's continued commitment to the forced transfer of Gaza's population, expressing deep concern over the extreme pressure being applied to Palestinians. 'The total collapse of the healthcare system, absence of aid, and depletion of fuel are all being weaponised to coerce the population into voluntary displacement,' he said. He further cautioned that the so-called humanitarian zone is incapable of hosting Gaza's 2 million residents within just 60 square kilometres of devastated land, describing the area as uninhabitable and void of any semblance of life or future. Abu Hasna urged the international community to intervene immediately to halt what he described as a dangerous and deliberate attempt to forcibly displace Palestinians under the guise of humanitarian relief. -- BERNAMA-WAFA
Sinar Daily
5 hours ago
- Sinar Daily
UNRWA warns of Israeli plan to create 'mass internment camps' in southern Gaza
Israel has long been laying the groundwork for such a plan through the establishment of aid distribution points in southern Gaza. 15 Jul 2025 09:40pm A Palestinian girl finds his way amid the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli strike in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on July 10, 2025. - (Photo by EYAD BABA / AFP) RAMALLAH - The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) media advisor, Adnan Abu Hasna in Gaza, has raised alarm over Israel's reported plans to establish what it calls a "humanitarian city" in southern Gaza. Palestinian News and Information Agency (WAFA) reported that he warned that the initiative is essentially a blueprint for mass internment camps. In a press statement, Abu Hasna said Israel has long been laying the groundwork for such a plan through the establishment of aid distribution points in southern Gaza. "Now, they are openly declaring their intent to forcibly displace the population of Gaza into collective detention camps in Rafah, as a prelude to their expulsion from Palestinian land,' he stated. He warned that this development signals Israel's continued commitment to the forced transfer of Gaza's population, expressing deep concern over the extreme pressure being applied to Palestinians. A Palestinian man finds his way amid the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli strike in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on July 10, 2025. - (Photo by EYAD BABA / AFP) "The total collapse of the healthcare system, absence of aid, and depletion of fuel are all being weaponised to coerce the population into voluntary displacement,' he said. He further cautioned that the so-called humanitarian zone is incapable of hosting Gaza's 2 million residents within just 60 square kilometres of devastated land, describing the area as uninhabitable and void of any semblance of life or future. Abu Hasna urged the international community to intervene immediately to halt what he described as a dangerous and deliberate attempt to forcibly displace Palestinians under the guise of humanitarian relief. - BERNAMA
