In a speech before the UN General Assembly, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune asked "[W]here is the global conscience that has become absent regarding the genocide being committed?"
In his address to the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly on 24 September 2024, President João Lourenço called on Israel to do "everything it can to prevent the genocide that the world is witnessing live in the Gaza Strip." In his address to the 80th Session of the Assembly one year later, Lourenço condemned the decision of the United States to deny visas to Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, and his delegation ahead of the Session, stating that the decision "encourages the continuation of the genocide to which we all bear witness." Lourenço further commented that Israel "cannot be allowed to pursue in Palestine – and particularly in Gaza – a policy of extermination of a people."
Before the 80th Sessions of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025, Prime Minister Gaston Browne stated that "we condemn the forced removal of people in Gaza from their homeland and the genocide that has occurred there."
Bangladesh backed South Africa's genocide case against Israel. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned the Israeli bombardments on Gaza Strip for "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians and urged the international community to take immediate and effective step to implement an unconditional ceasefire, protect the lives of civilians, and deliver humanitarian aid; it also affirmed its support for Palestinian self-determination and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the basis of the pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Belgium has vowed to support the verdict of the ICJ in South Africa v. Israel. Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot said, "As the foreign minister, it is not up to me to make such statements. But my personal opinion is that this is very close to genocide. I don't know what other horrors have yet to occur before that word can be used." Prime Minister Bart De Wever said that the claim of genocide was "something for the International Court of Justice to determine".
On 22 October 2023, Prime Minister John Briceño accused the Israeli government of "committing genocide against the Palestinian people." On 31 January 2025, Belize submitted a request to join South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the ICJ.
President Luis Arce posted on X that he agreed with President Lula of Brazil (see below) concerning "the truth about the genocide that is being committed against the brave Palestinian people". On 8 October 2024, Bolivia submitted a request to join South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the ICJ.
In a meeting in September 2025 with Chaloka Beyani, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General for the Prevention of Genocide, Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and HerzegovinaŽeljko Komšić commented that, although many believed the crime of genocide would never be committed again after the Holocaust, "genocide was committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina and, unfortunately, today we are witnessing its repetition in Gaza." In his address to the UN General Assembly on 24 September 2025, Komšić further condemned the genocide of the Palestinian people and the inaction of the international community in face of it.
President Lula da Silva condemned Israel's actions as genocide, saying: "What's happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people hasn't happened at any other moment in history. Actually, it has happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews." In June 2025, he accused Israel of carrying out "premediated genocide" in Gaza. On 14 July 2025, it was announced that Brazil would join South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the ICJ.
During the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025, 2nd Minister of Foreign Affairs Erywan Yusof noted that, although humanity vowed to say "never again to genocide" in the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust, Israel's warfare on Gaza consists of "actions that betray that vow."
Prime Minister Mark Carney seemingly agreed with a protester who said there was "a genocide happening in Palestine", but later said he had misheard the question. Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Minister Melanie Joly neither endorsed nor rejected South Africa's case against Israel. Joly said she would watch the case "very closely" and Global Affairs Canada promised to abide by any decision the court reaches.
President Gabriel Boric has condemned both Hamas and Israel's actions in Gaza, saying he refuses to choose between "the terrorism of Hamas and the genocide that Israel is carrying out in Palestine". On 12 October 2024, Chile submitted a request to join South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the ICJ.
In the State Council Information Office's "Report on Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2024", Israel was accused of committing genocide in Gaza with the complicity of the United States.
President Gustavo Petro posted on X in Spanish: "It's called genocide, they do it to remove the Palestinian people from Gaza and take it over. The head of the state who carries out this genocide is a criminal against humanity. Their allies cannot talk about democracy." On 29 February 2024, Petro announced the country would cease importing Israeli arms in the wake of the Flour massacre.
Egypt registered to formally support South Africa's case, following Israel's seizure of the Rafah Border Crossing. In August 2025, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi accused Israel of carrying out a "systematic genocide" in Gaza.
In January 2024, then-Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné said that accusing Israel of genocide is "to cross a moral threshold", casting doubt on whether France would accept the ICJ's verdict in South Africa v. Israel. But France's UN AmbassadorNicolas de Rivière had previously said that France would "see what [the ICJ] decide on this matter and we'll make sure that we'll support the outcome of the decision."
In an interview on 17 September 2025, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that a major humanitarian disaster is unfolding in Gaza, but he considers the term "genocide" to be heavy.
Speaking before the UN General Assembly on 23 September 2024, then-Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said that "the ongoing genocide by Israel must be stopped immediately".
On 7 November 2024, the Dáil Éireann passed a non-binding motion stating that "genocide is being perpetrated before our eyes by Israel in Gaza". On 11 December, Ireland announced that it was joining South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the ICJ; a request to join the case was submitted on 6 January 2025. During a debate in the Dáil Éireann in May 2025, Tánaiste and Foreign Minister Simon Harris spoke of "the genocidal activity of the Netanyahu government" in Gaza. In his address to the United Nations General Assembly on 26 September 2025, TaoiseachMicheál Martin urged those providing means necessary for Israel to continue its war to "reflect carefully on the implications of their actions and the consequences for the Palestinian people," adding that "[t]here cannot be business as usual in the face of genocide."
In an interview on 11 January 2024, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that, while Israel has targeted civilians during the war in Gaza, "genocide is something else".
In May 2024, Libya filed a declaration of intervention in South Africa's genocide case against Israel as it believes that Israel is committing genocide.
On 24 September 2024, President Mohamed Muizzu said before the UN General Assembly that "the genocide by Israel in Gaza is a travesty of justice and the international system".
The government of Mauritania condemned Israel's actions and called on the international community to "impose an immediate cessation of the genocide to which the Palestinian people are subjected".
In January 2024, then-President Hage Geingob of Namibia called Israel's actions in Gaza "genocidal and gruesome" and sharply criticised Germany's decision to back Israel in South Africa v. Israel, saying that Germany had an "inability to draw lessons from its horrific history", including the Herero and Nama Genocide in German Southwest Africa. Addressing the UN General Assembly on 24 September 2025, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah reiterated her predecessor's stance, stating that, "indeed, a genocide is being committed against the Palestinian people."
Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel said that the Netherlands would not support the UN report that described the situation in the Gaza Strip as genocide and would instead wait for the ICJ's decision.
Nicaragua has condemned Israel's accusations as genocide and accused Germany of complicity by exchanging weapons to Israel. In October 2024, Nicaragua severed diplomatic ties with Israel after its invasion of Lebanon, calling the Israeli government "fascist" and "genocidal", and Netanyahu "the son of the Devil". On 8 February 2024, Nicaragua submitted a request to join the ICJ's case against Israel at the ICJ, but withdrew the request on 3 April 2025.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said a bombing of a hospital during the war "show[ed] that the U.S. is an accomplice who connived at and fostered Israel's genocide".
On 2 September 2024, Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said, "We welcome the use of the ICJ, but leave to the court to assess whether the accusation of genocide is correct."
In October 2023, then-Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani condemned Israel's airstrikes on Gaza and siege of the territory as genocide. Before the 80th Session of the UN National Assembly in September 2025, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that "Israel’s genocidal onslaught [in Gaza] has unleashed unspeakable terror upon women and children in a manner we have not witnessed in decades, perhaps ever."
In October 2024, Polish then-chargé d'affaires (later ambassador) to Israel Maciej Hunia rejected the accusation of genocide against Israel, saying he was "absolutely sure" the Israeli army was not planning operations to kill innocent people, and explaining the civilian deaths in Gaza as "collateral damage." In an interview with Polskie Radio in September 2025, Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski echoed a similar stance, stating that while he viewed the "catastrophic number" of civilian deaths in Gaza as a "terrible tragedy," it did not in his view meet the definition of genocide.
In an interview with El País in May 2024, Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel rejected the genocide accusation, saying it would be "very unfair" to say Israel intends to eliminate the Palestinian people, while maintaining that "there is a humanitarian catastrophe [in Gaza] that demands condemnation" and calling for a ceasefire.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the UN Security Council "to take urgent action to prevent the Israeli occupation forces from storming Rafah and committing genocide in" Rafah. Qatari emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said Israel had committed "a crime of genocide".
Before the 80th Session of the UN General Assembly in September 2025, Minister of External Affairs Alva Baptiste condemned "the undeniable genocide that is being committed against the people of Palestine, especially in Gaza."
On 11 January 2024, the Prime Minister's office released a statement of support for South Africa's case against Israel at the ICJ, calling on the court to adopt provisional measures to "prevent any further acts of genocide against the Palestinian people". The statement also called on other countries to stop providing material support to Israel, accusing those who continue to do so of being "complicit in genocide before our very eyes".
In his address to the 80th Session of the UN General Assembly on 24 September 2025, President Julius Maada Bio criticized the "paralysis" of the UN Security Council in face of the human suffering in Gaza, stating that "[a] preventable genocide was not prevented."
In an address to the European Parliament on 21 May 2025, President Nataša Pirc Musar said: "We are witnessing genocide in the West Bank. We are looking and keeping quiet." She later clarified that she meant Gaza, not the West Bank.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said, "The fact that Palestinian deaths are not solely caused by bombardment and ground attacks, but also by disease and starvation, indicates a need to protect the group's right to exist".
In May 2025, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called Israel a "genocidal state." Several government ministers have also publicly called Israel's warfare in Gaza genocide, including Second Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz, Defence Minister Margarita Robles, Youth Minister Sira Rego, and former Social Affairs Minister Ione Belarra. Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares previously said, "Whether this is genocide or not, that is for the [World] court to decide, and Spain of course will support its decision." On 6 June 2024, Spain submitted a request for joining South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the ICJ.
Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad condemned Israel's actions as genocide in October 2023. During a speech to an Arab–Islamic extraordinary summit in November 2024, then-President Bashar al-Assad described Israel's actions as "massacres, genocide and ethnic cleansing".
Before the 80th Session of the UN General Assembly in September 2025, a statement by Foreign Minister Bendito Freitas was read by Timor-Leste's Permanent Representative Dionísio Babo Soares, urging the international community to "waste no more time on terminology" regarding "the situation of famine and genocide" in Gaza.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan condemned Israel's actions as "amounting to genocide". On 9 February 2024, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that the international community's silence on Israel's actions in Gaza were "complicity in genocide". On 7 August 2024, Turkey submitted a request to join South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the ICJ.
The Foreign Office under the Sunak ministry dismissed the accusation of genocide against Israel. Prime Minister Keir Starmer refused to call Israel's actions in Gaza "genocide". Two leaders of devolved nations within the United Kingdom – Northern Irish First Minister Michelle O'Neill and Scottish First Minister John Swinney – both stated that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, in July and August 2025 respectively. A letter written by then-foreign secretary David Lammy, revealed in September 2025, stated that the government's position was that the war did not meet the criteria to determine it as a genocide.
Then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken dismissed the genocide accusation as "meritless". Then-President Joe Biden dismissed the accusation of genocide against Israel. President Donald Trump has also rejected the allegations of genocide, instead calling it a "war" with Hamas.
A resolution adopted by the governing Broad Front coalition in June 2025 condemned the "ethnic cleansing and genocide" committed by Israel in Gaza, drawing criticism from some opposition parties as well as the Israeli embassy. Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin maintained that he views the resolution "positively" and criticized the diplomatic intervention, while insisting on separating the actions of the Broad Front and the government. Lubetkin refrained from stating whether he or the government views the situation as a genocide or not, saying: "Helping Palestine is helping Palestine, not the discussion about the term genocide or massacre." President Yamandú Orsi took a similar position, distancing himself from the statement and saying "it's a declaration of a political force" and "the goverment is another thing [from the party]".
In November 2023, several witnesses to a speech by Pope Francis said that he called Israel's actions a genocide, but a Vatican spokesman denied this. Francis later called for an investigation "to determine whether it fits into the technical definition [of genocide] formulated by jurists and international bodies". His successor, Leo XIV said "Officially, the Holy See does not believe that we can make any declaration at this time about that" in September 2025.
In February 2024 the then-African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki said: "Gaza is being completely annihilated and its people are deprived of all their rights. We denounce the Israeli operation, which has no parallel in the history of humanity."[121] The official communiqué of the 38th summit of the African Union stated that "Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians and must be prosecuted internationally."[122]
On 26 March, Pakistan's OIC representative said that Israel's desire for a "final solution to the Palestinian question is plain for all to see, as its forces encircle Rafah like vultures and its ravenous land grab continues unabated".[123] In May 2024, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation called on member states to end "the export of weapons and ammunition used by its army to perpetrate the crime of genocide in Gaza".[124]
On 16 August 2025, 31 Arab and Islamic countries and the Arab League released a joint statement condemning "Israel's crimes of aggression, genocide, and ethnic cleansing" in Gaza, and highlighted the need to ensure access to humanitarian aid to "halt the systematic starvation policy used by Israel as a weapon of genocide."[125] A month later, the European Parliament passed a resolution on the Gaza war, which in its initial form mentioned "genocidal actions" from Israel, but this was ultimately omitted.[126][127]
Notes
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzaaabacadaeForeign minister of the relevant country, in a joint statement of 31 Arab and Islamic countries, "reiterate[d] their rejection and condemnation of the crimes of Israeli aggression, genocide, and ethnic cleansing" in August 2025.[4]
References
^Sharma, Vasu (14 November 2023). "Decoding Pakistan and Afghanistan's Public Responses to the Israel-Hamas War". Stimson Center. Archived from the original on 17 January 2024. Retrieved 17 January 2024. The Taliban's response to the current conflict is entirely in support of the Palestinians and calls out Israeli aggression for violating their rights and the sanctity of Al-Aqsa and other mosques in Palestine. In a series of tweets, Afghanistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred to Israel's bombardment as a "genocide."
Abdallah, Maha (22 March 2024). "Palestina en de genocidezaak tegen Israël" [Palestine and the genocide case against Israel]. Lava [nl] (in Dutch). No. 28. ISSN2565-7127. Archived from the original on 9 December 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2025. België verbond zich ertoe het Hof volledig te zullen steunen, zijn beslissingen en beschikkingen. [Belgium committed itself to fully supporting the court, its rulings and orders.]