Egypt said it would formally join South Africa’s complaint against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which accuses Israel of violating its obligations under the Genocide Convention in its war against the Gaza Strip.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that Cairo intended to join the case due to the escalation of Israeli aggression against Palestinian civilians.
“This submission…comes in light of the worsening severity and scale of Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, and the continued perpetration of systematic practices against the Palestinian people, including targeting direct attacks on civilians and destruction of infrastructure in the Strip, and push Palestinians to flee,” the ministry said in a statement.
South Africa filed a lawsuit against Israel in January, accusing the country of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza, which began in October, has exceeded 35,000 people, with most of the dead being women and children, according to Palestinian authorities.
Israel launched the assault after Hamas carried out an attack in southern Israel, killing at least 1,139 people, most of them civilians, according to an Tel Aviv Tribune tally based on Israeli statistics.
The United Nations’ highest court issued an interim ruling in January finding there was a plausible risk of genocide in the enclave and ordered Israel to take a series of interim measures, including to prevent any acts of genocide.
The court, which sits in The Hague, rejected a second South African request for emergency measures filed in March following Israel’s threat to attack Rafah.
Egypt will join Turkey and Colombia in formally requesting to join the case against Israel. This month, Turkey said it would seek to join the case after the South American country last month asked the ICJ to allow it to join to ensure “security and, in fact, the very existence of the Palestinian people.”
Egypt said it called on Israel “to respect its obligations as the occupying power and to implement the interim measures issued by the ICJ, which require guaranteeing access to humanitarian aid and emergency relief.” a way that meets the needs of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. “.
It also demands that Israeli forces not commit any violations against the Palestinian people.
It will likely be years before the court rules on the merits of the genocide case. Even if the ICJ’s judgments are binding and final, the Court has no way of enforcing them.
Israel has repeatedly stated that it is acting in accordance with international law in Gaza. He called the South African genocide case baseless and accused Pretoria of acting as “the legal arm of Hamas”.
“Diplomatic coup”
Alon Liel, former director of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, told Tel Aviv Tribune that the Egyptian decision was an “incredible diplomatic blow for Israel.”
“Egypt is the cornerstone of our position in the Middle East,” he said. Israel’s ties today in the Middle East and North Africa, including Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco, are all “the result of what Egypt did 40 years ago he said, referring to the 1979 peace treaty between the two countries. .
“The fact that Egypt is joining South Africa in The Hague is a real diplomatic blow. Israel should take this very seriously.
“Israel must… listen to the world – not just the Israeli public who are now demanding revenge.
“We need to see the big picture from a broader perspective, regarding Israel’s long-term security, not just in the coming weeks in Gaza. »
The latest legal development comes as Israel engaged in renewed fighting with Hamas in northern Gaza and ordered tens of thousands more people to evacuate the southern town of Rafah, located near the border between Gaza and Egypt.
Israeli forces took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing on Tuesday, a day after Hamas said it had accepted a ceasefire proposal brokered by Egypt and Qatar, which Israel quickly rejected . The crossing was the main entry point for aid into Gaza, but has been closed since Israel took control.
Tanks and planes shelled several areas and at least four houses in Rafah overnight, killing 20 Palestinians and injuring several others, according to Palestinian health officials.
The city is home to more than a million displaced Palestinians living in dire conditions, and the international community has warned Israel that a large-scale Israeli ground attack would trigger a humanitarian catastrophe for civilians.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Rafah offensive was necessary to defeat Hamas.
Around 110,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah in recent days, according to the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA).