Palestine: La Via Campesina Welcomes the Formation of The Hague Group, Urges Immediate Global Participation
La Via Campesina, the global movement representing millions of peasants, small-scale farmers, landless people, Indigenous communities, migrants, and agricultural workers, welcomes the establishment of The Hague Group by the governments of Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, Senegal, and South Africa. This unprecedented alliance marks a historic and urgent intervention in the fight against impunity and the ongoing genocide committed against the Palestinian people.
The Hague Group’s formation is a decisive response to the escalating crimes committed by Israel occupation, the occupying power, and reflects the growing international consensus that action must replace words. As the world bears witness to ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and systematic destruction in Palestine, we commend the commitment of these nations to upholding international law and ensuring that those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity are held accountable. As stated in their inaugural joint statement, the group is “determined to uphold our obligations to end the Israeli occupation of the State of Palestine and support the realization of the inalienable right of the Palestinian People to self-determination, including the right to their independent State of Palestine” (The Hague Group, 2025).
At a time when Israel’s genocidal actions have reached catastrophic levels, La Via Campesina unequivocally condemns the recent statements by U.S. President Donald Trump advocating for the forced displacement of the Palestinian people from Gaza. His remarks proposing the complete expulsion of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents and the erasure of Palestinian existence in their homeland expose the brutal reality of the ongoing colonial project. Forced population transfer is a war crime and a grave violation of international law, explicitly prohibited under the Fourth Geneva Convention and classified as an act of genocide under the Genocide Convention. The international community cannot and must not allow such crimes to unfold under its watch. As reported by The Guardian, Trump suggested that “the people of Gaza should be relocated elsewhere, and the land should be used for something better, maybe even a resort” (The Guardian, 2025).
La Via Campesina has consistently stood in solidarity with the Palestinian people. In a statement from December 2024, following a solidarity visit to Palestine, LVC highlighted the “dramatic acceleration of settler colonisation in the West Bank, along with dramatic deterioration of the living, working and security conditions of farmers, shepherds and their families, especially women and children” (La Via Campesina, 2024).
The Hague Group represents a pivotal moment in the global struggle for justice and accountability. La Via Campesina calls on all governments to immediately join The Hague Group and actively participate in its mission to uphold international law and protect the Palestinian people from continued war crimes and ethnic cleansing. Furthermore, we urge all La Via Campesina member organizations and allied movements worldwide to publicly support and mobilize in favor of The Hague Group’s efforts, ensuring that this initiative leads to concrete political and legal actions against Israeli impunity. The time for symbolic gestures has passed concrete action is now required to dismantle the structures of occupation, apartheid, and settler-colonialism.
In solidarity with the Palestinian people and all oppressed communities resisting dispossession, La Via Campesina reaffirms its unwavering commitment to justice, food sovereignty, and self-determination. The Hague Group must serve as a vehicle for decisive measures that enforce international law and end the impunity that has emboldened the perpetrators of genocide.