Turkey to join South Africa's genocide case against Israel at ICJ, minister says
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan today announced that his country had joined the “genocide” lawsuit filed by South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
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He added that establishing a Palestinian state and achieving the two-state solution are essential matters, pointing out that some Western countries have come to recognize that the two-state solution is inevitable.
Fidan stressed that Israel continues its crimes against the Palestinian people and the international community must halt these crimes.
On December 29, 2023, South Africa filed a lawsuit against Israel, at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, against the backdrop of its involvement in “acts of genocide” against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, and dozens of countries supported it, in a historical precedent in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
South Africa submitted to the court an elaborate 84-page file, in which it collected evidence of Israel’s killing of thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and creating conditions “predisposed to inflicting physical destruction on them,” which is considered a crime of “genocide” against them.
On January 26, International Justice decided that Israel must take all measures to prevent acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention, and take measures to ensure that the urgent humanitarian needs of the Gaza Strip are provided immediately.
On February 13, South Africa submitted an urgent request to the court to consider Israel’s decision to expand its military operations in Rafah, explaining that it had asked the court to determine whether it required it to use its authority to prevent further violations of the rights of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. However, the court rejected the request, but also stressed that “Israel must respect previous measures.”
“The dangerous situation in Rafah requires the immediate and effective implementation of the temporary measures ordered by the court on January 26, 2024, which apply to all parts of the Gaza Strip, including Rafah,” she said. However, “the situation does not require referring to additional temporary measures” regarding Rafah, according to the court.
The court added that Israel "remains obligated to fully comply with its obligations under the Genocide Convention and the aforementioned order, including ensuring the safety and security of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."
