Turkey has requested to intervene in the genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The Turkish Grand National Assembly’s Justice Committee submitted the intervention petition to the ICJ in The Hague.
Late last year, the Republic of South Africa filed a case at the ICJ, alleging that Israel’s actions in Gaza since October 7th violated the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The death toll from Israel’s attacks has reached nearly 40,000.
Turkey has submitted its statement of intervention in the genocide case against Israel to the ICJ. A delegation consisting of Turkey’s Ambassador to The Hague and Members of Parliament delivered Turkey’s statement of intervention to the ICJ Registry today. The delegation included Ambassador Selçuk Ãœnal, AKP Istanbul MP Cüneyt Yüksel, Chairman of the Turkey-European Union Joint Parliamentary Committee and AKP Istanbul MP Ä°smail Emrah Karayel, and Member of the Constitution Committee and Denizli MP Cahit Özkan.
With this move, Turkey became the seventh country to file an intervention notice in the genocide case between South Africa and Israel at the ICJ, following Nicaragua, Colombia, Libya, Mexico, Palestine, and Spain. The Court has yet to decide on these countries’ applications.
Under Article 63 of the Court’s Statute, Turkey’s intervention notification requires the ICJ to inform both Israel and South Africa, the parties to the case, and request their observations on Turkey’s intervention notification.
South Africa’s Genocide Case Against Israel
On December 29, 2023, the Republic of South Africa filed a case against Israel at the ICJ, alleging that Israel’s actions violated the 1948 United Nations (UN) Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Due to the urgent situation in Gaza, South Africa requested the ICJ to impose provisional measures. Hearings on this request were held on January 11-12 at the Peace Palace in The Hague, and the Court announced its provisional measures on January 26.
The ICJ ordered Israel to take all necessary measures to prevent actions that fall under Article 2 of the Genocide Convention, ensure that the Israeli military refrains from such actions, prevent, stop, and punish calls for genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, take urgent and effective measures to provide essential services and humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, prevent the destruction of evidence indicating violations of the Genocide Convention, and submit a report to the Court within one month detailing the measures taken.
Following South Africa’s additional request for provisional measures on March 6, the ICJ issued an additional order on March 28, instructing Israel to ensure the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian aid to Gaza, not to violate Palestinians’ rights, and submit a report to the Court within one month on the measures taken.
On May 24, the Court found that the previously ordered measures were insufficient due to the humanitarian disaster faced by Palestinians trapped in Rafah and ordered Israel to cease its military attacks on Rafah immediately, keep the Rafah Border Crossing open to allow the unimpeded provision of urgently needed services and humanitarian aid, ensure unimpeded access to Gaza for UN officials investigating genocide allegations, and submit a report to the Court within one month detailing the measures taken.
