BOGOTA, Colombia

Colombia asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to allow it to intervene in the lawsuit that South Africa filed against Israel for acts of "genocide" in the Gaza Strip, the court reported Friday.

“Today, Colombia, invoking Article 63 of the Statute of the Court, filed in the Registry of the Court a declaration of intervention in the case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip,” it said in a statement.

Colombia made it clear that it does not seek to become part of the process initiated by South Africa, but it wants to submit its declaration “in the genuine belief that the States parties to the Genocide Convention should do everything in their power to contribute to ensure the prevention, suppression and punishment of genocide.”

The ICJ at the Hague has the prerogative to allow states to give their views and several states have said they will also seek to intervene in the case.

The Colombian Foreign Ministry urged other countries to "join the process."

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has repeatedly expressed his support for the lawsuit as he said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is violating the rules of the 1948 Convention for the Prevention of Genocide.

Petro has defended the Palestinian cause, even threatening to break relations with Israel on several occasions.

Last week, judges at the UN’s top court ordered Israel to “take all necessary and effective measures to ensure, without delay … the unhindered provision … of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance” to Palestinians in Gaza.

Since Israeli forces began their offensive on Oct. 7 after Hamas militants killed less than 1,200 people in southern Israel, more than 33,000 victims have been killed in Gaza and more than 2 million have been driven from their homes.