Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Wednesday Turkey would join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Reuters reported.
“Upon completion of the legal text of our work, we will submit the declaration of official intervention before the ICJ with the objective of implementing this political decision,” Reuters quoted Fidan as saying at a joint press conference with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi in Ankara.
“Turkey will continue to support the Palestinian people in all circumstances,” he said.
The ICJ ordered Israel in January to refrain from all acts that could fall under the Genocide Convention and to ensure that its troops do not commit genocidal acts against Palestinians after South Africa accused Israel of state-directed genocide in Gaza.
In January President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Turkey would provide documents for the case to the ICJ, also known as the World Court.
Israel and its Western allies described the accusation as unfounded. A final decision in South Africa’s case before the ICJ in The Hague could take years.
Israel launched a military campaign on the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an unprecedented Hamas incursion on October 7 that resulted in an estimated 1,200 deaths and 250 hostages being taken to Gaza.
According to the latest data received from Gaza’s health ministry, Israeli strikes across Gaza have resulted in the death of at least 34,568 people and injured 74,765 more.