Concert and demonstration in support of Palestine in Plaza Bolívar, Bogotá, Colombia, in 2024. Photo: Presidencia de Colombia.
Bogota will include over 20 nations as part of The Hague Group’s campaign to confront Israeli war crimes in Gaza through coordinated legal, diplomatic, and economic action
More than 20 states will gather in Bogota on 15–16 July to declare “concrete measures” against Israel’s violations of international law, according to diplomats speaking to Middle East Eye.
The summit, co-chaired by Colombia and South Africa, will bring together members and supporters of The Hague Group, a bloc launched in January to confront what it calls “a climate of impunity” surrounding Israel’s actions in Gaza.
The group includes Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, Senegal, and South Africa, with additional countries such as Spain, Ireland, Turkiye, Portugal, China, Qatar, Algeria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Indonesia, Lebanon, Nicaragua, Oman, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Uruguay, and Palestine set to attend.
Colombian Vice-Minister of Multilateral Affairs Mauricio Jaramillo Jassir said the summit would not only reaffirm the group’s resistance to the ongoing “Palestinian genocide,” but also outline specific steps to move from words to collective action.
“Colombia cannot be indifferent in the face of apartheid and ethnic cleansing,” he said.
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The conference will be hosted at the Museo Nacional de Colombia under the banner Collective Action in Defense of Palestine, with keynote remarks to be delivered by UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine Francesca Albanese – who was recently sanctioned by the US for what US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called a “campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel.”
Other speakers include UK parliamentarian Jeremy Corbyn, EU lawmaker Rima Hassan, and Andres Macias Tolosa of the UN Working Group on Mercenaries. Colombia’s Minister of Culture, Yannai Kadamani Fonrodona, will also participate.
South Africa’s Minister of International Relations, Roland Lamola, stated the summit will send a clear message that “no nation is above the law, and no crime will go unanswered.”
Since its formation, The Hague Group has coordinated legal challenges against Israel, including South Africa’s genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Namibia and Malaysia blocked arms shipments to Israel, while Colombia severed diplomatic ties and suspended coal exports.
The summit is expected to deepen and unify these efforts.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, writing in The Guardian, announced the conference and warned that “without decisive action, we risk stripping the global legal order of its remaining protections for less-privileged nations.”
He urged states to act collectively to halt Israel’s destruction of Gaza and restore the foundations of international law.
