“We will submit our prepared file to join the genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice at The Hague on Wednesday,” Hakan Fidan told a news conference alongside his Egyptian counterpart in Cairo.

According to sources from Belgium’s Foreign Ministry, the country decided to submit to the Court its interpretation of Article 2 of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention, which defines the crime of genocide.

The submission follows on from a resolution passed by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2022 requesting the ICJ to issue an advisory opinion on the implications of Israel's continued violations of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.

The ICJ is expected to draw up a list of states and organisations that will be able to file written statements, but the press release gave no further information about a timeline for that process. In previous advisory opinions the Court also scheduled hearings, but it is likely to take at least several months before they can be scheduled.

Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, declared at this occasion that “any country that believes in multilateralism and is committed to the international-law based order cannot but oppose such punitive measures that target and affect the Palestinian people, leadership and civil society.”