AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Nicaragua has filed an application with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to join South Africa in its genocide case against Israel, the ICJ, also known as the World Court, said on Thursday.

The court said in a statement that Nicaragua considers that the conduct of Israel is in “violation of its obligations under the Genocide Convention”.

South Africa and Israel have been invited to furnish written observations on Nicaragua’s application for permission to intervene as a party.

Historically, the kind of intervention Nicaragua is requesting, has rarely been granted by the ICJ.

Several other states have signalled they might want to intervene in the Gaza genocide case but none have formally done so before Nicaragua.

South Africa in December 2023 filed a genocide case against Israel declaring that it was in breach of its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention in its war against the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza.

Last month the World Court ordered Israel to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians and do more to help civilians, although it stopped short of ordering a ceasefire as requested by South Africa.

(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg, Charlotte Van Campenhout, Editing by Angus MacSwan)