Turkey set to join South Africa genocide case against Israel

ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkey will submit today a declaration of intervention in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague, a diplomatic source says.

The declaration will happen at 1330 GMT, the source adds, after Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said this week that Turkey would make the declaration on Wednesday.

“Turkey’s intervention pushes the international community to recognize and address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” the source says.

In May, Turkey said it had decided to join the case launched by South Africa as it stepped up measures against Israel over the assault on Gaza, adding that its bid would follow the necessary legal preparations.

In June, Spain said it had asked to intervene in the case at the ICJ, the highest legal body of the United Nations set up in 1945 to deal with disputes between states.

Israel has repeatedly dismissed the case’s accusations of genocide as baseless, arguing in court that its operations in Gaza are self-defense and targeted at Hamas terrorists who massacred Israelis on October 7.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.