UN special rapporteur to the occupied Palestinian territory Francesca Albanese has hailed the formation of The Hague Group, saying it was the “best news” from a coalition of policymakers “in a long time”, Al Jazeera reports.

Formed on Friday in the city of its namesake, The Hague Group’s members of Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, Senegal, and South Africa have joined together to “end Israeli occupation of the State of Palestine”.

The groups said in a joint statement that they could not “remain passive in the face of such international crimes” committed by Israel against the Palestinians, and would work to see the “realisation of the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the right to their independent State of Palestine”.

The UN’s Albanese said on social media: “Let’s make it real. And let’s keep growing.”