Nicaragua withdrew its application to intervene in the proceedings of South Africa v Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday without citing any reason behind its decision. The initial application was made under Article 36, paragraph 1 and Article 62 of the Statute of the Court.

The case, which was related to the “Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip” sought to ensure that the ICJ investigated Israel’s violations of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, with Nicaragua agreeing with the facts proposed by South Africa.

Such contentions included Israel’s “intent to clear the Gaza Strip of all or part of the Palestinians inhabitants either by direct killing or causing serious bodily and even mental harm,” with the death toll exceeding 10 thousand children at the time of the filing. Nicaragua was among 13 countries that had chosen to involve themselves within the proceedings under a combination of Articles 62 and 63. Others included Colombia, Libya, Mexico, Palestine, Spain, Türkiye, Chile, the Maldives, Bolivia, Ireland, Cuba, and Belize.

The decision to withdraw the application follows the UN identifying 54 officials who have actively violated human rights within the Nicaraguan government itself. The report accuses the officials of crimes including arbitrary detention, torture, extrajudicial killings and the suppression of dissent. The UN also confirmed its position that the Nicaraguan government is now an authoritarian government, experiencing a “deteriorating human rights situation.”

However, Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s Foreign Minister, announced his support of Nicaragua’s decision to withdraw writing on X: “Better late than never: Nicaragua has withdrawn its morally repugnant intervention in the baseless and outrageous case that was filed by South Africa against Israel at the ICJ. Others that made the same mistake should follow suit.” No countries have yet to follow.