Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said it backed South Africa’s genocide claim against Israel over its military operation in Gaza. The opening hearing is expected to be held next Thursday and Friday before the International Court of Justice at The Hague.
“It is expected that within the framework of this application, the ICJ will decide on provisional measures involving those to stop Israel’s attacks on Gaza,” the Foreign Ministry said as it called on Israel to be held accountable for civilian deaths in Gaza.
Its statement is one more expression of the sharp tensions that have existed between the two countries since Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, with Turkey recalling its ambassador.
South African Foreign Ministry spokesman Clayson Monyela said he expected other countries to issue similar statements.
In Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who entered office on Tuesday, spoke with British Foreign Minister David Cameron about the case.
“I raised the importance of opposing South Africa’s absurd appeal to the @CIJ_ICJ against Israel,” Katz wrote in a post on X.
South Africa was able to appeal to the ICJ because it is a signatory to the 1948 Convention on Genocide, as is Israel.
As signatories to the Convention, both countries already accept the court’s jurisdiction. If the court sides with South Africa, it could order Israel to halt the war.
Court 'obligated' to hear appeal due to South Africa's request
An Israeli official explained that the ICJ’s decision to hold the hearing was not a reflection of any bias against the Jewish state. Rather, the court was obligated to hear the case because South Africa had issued an appeal, which triggered the hearing. The 15 judges expected to be involved in the case are independent.
Some of them represent countries that are strong allies of Israel, such as the US, Germany, France, and Australia, even though others are from countries that oppose Israel.
It’s clear, for example, that the US, which has supported Israel militarily, does not believe that Israel’s actions in Gaza are tantamount to genocide, the official said. The decision to appear before the court was not coordinated with the Biden administration, the official added.
Israel has not made any decision yet as to what it might do if the court rules against it, and at this point, it expects to be able to make its case, the official said.
The South African petition to the court deals with Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and with statements made by politicians not involved in decision-making regarding the war, the official explained.
Israel, in turn, has considered whether to file its cases before the court against South Africa or Hamas, even though the latter is not a party to the court, the official stated.
The pending case has not changed IDF actions in Gaza, the official continued, explaining that all military actions are done in consultation with legal experts to ensure that they fall within the boundaries of international law.
Israel has contended from the start that the Hamas-led October 7 attack, in which over 1,200 people were slaughtered and another 240 were taken hostage, was genocidal in intent, particularly given Hamas’s statements that it would carry out similar attacks if it could.
The Palestinians and some of their supporters, such as South Africa, have accused Israel of genocide, given Hamas’s assertion that close to 22,000 Palestinians have been killed in violence related to the IDF’s military campaign in Gaza to eliminate the terror group. Israel has said that some 8,000 of those fatalities were combatants.