MADRID, June 6. /TASS/. The Spanish authorities have decided to join the lawsuit filed by South Africa against Israel to the UN International Court of Justice, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told reporters.

"Spain is set to join the UN International Court of Justice case launched by South Africa over the situation in Gaza," the diplomat said. Asked whether Madrid considers what is happening in Gaza to be genocide, the foreign minister said that "this is up to the court, and Spain will support its decision."

Relations between Spain and Israel have worsened amid Madrid's decision to recognize Palestine. On May 27, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that he had ordered the Foreign Ministry to send a note to the kingdom's embassy in the Jewish state prohibiting the Spanish consulate in Jerusalem from providing consular services to Palestinians from the West Bank.

South Africa filed a lawsuit against Israel to the UN International Court of Justice in The Hague on December 29, 2023. In its petition, the South African side demands that the court recognize that the actions of the Israeli authorities in the Gaza Strip qualify as genocide because they are committed with the specific intent "to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group." South Africa has also asked the court to take interim measures to protect the Palestinian population from further violation of their rights.

The court ruled on January 26 that Israel must take all necessary measures to prevent genocide in Gaza. Later, the court additionally stated that the Jewish state must immediately halt the military offensive in Rafah and keep the crossing of the same name open to provide humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in the necessary amounts.