Turkey has filed a formal request to join South Africa’s genocide trial against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a move that adds to international pressure on the Israeli government to end its atrocities in Gaza.
A Turkish delegation, including Ankara’s ambassador to The Hague, Selcuk Unal, officially submitted the request on Wednesday, state news agency Anadolu reported.
Turkey’s decision to intervene “reflects the importance our country attaches to resolving the Palestinian issue within the framework of law and justice,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday. “The conscience of humanity and international law will hold Israeli officials accountable.”
Turkey is now the seventh country to formally request to join the case before the UN Supreme Court, after Colombia, Nicaragua, Spain, Libya, Palestine and Mexico.
According to Tel Aviv Tribune’s Sinem Koseoglu, reporting from Istanbul, the Turkish demand will strengthen the accusation against Israel.
“When multiple parties are involved in such cases, the charges against the offender are strengthened,” Koseoglu said.
In a statement on Telegram, the Palestinian resistance group Hamas welcomed Turkey’s decision, calling it a confirmation of the Turkish people’s support for the Palestinian cause.
Hamas called on all countries in the world to “take immediate steps” to join the case before the ICJ and to “work towards forming a united front” to end the occupation of Palestinian territories.
The Israeli offensive in Gaza has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians, destroyed large parts of the territory and brought its more than two million inhabitants to the brink of starvation.
The South African dossier, which cites numerous statements by Israeli officials calling for the punishment of Palestinian civilians, accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
The United Nations Genocide Convention defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group,” including killings and preventing births.
South Africa filed the complaint in January and asked the court for urgent interim measures to stop the killings of Palestinians while the case is adjudicated – a process that could take years.
The UN Supreme Court responded by ordering Israel to take steps to prevent genocide in Gaza, including ending the killing of Palestinians and ensuring the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians. But the justices did not explicitly order a halt to the Israeli offensive.
In March, the court again ruled that Israel must ensure that basic foodstuffs reach the population of Gaza without delay, as famine worsens in the territory due to the Israeli blockade.
Two months later, the ICJ ordered Israel to “immediately cease its military offensive” in Rafah, where most of Gaza’s displaced people were located. The Israeli government ignored the decision.
The ICJ’s decisions are binding, but there is no established mechanism to enforce them. The UN Security Council can pass resolutions to impose sanctions on parties that violate the court’s decisions, but actions against Israel in the UN Security Council have often been blocked by the US veto.
In a separate case last month, the ICJ said in an advisory opinion that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories was illegal and must end “as expeditiously as possible.”
The Turkish intervention in the genocide case comes amid an escalating war of words between Israel and Turkey over Israeli atrocities in Gaza.
In July, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested that Turkey could “enter” the conflict to help the Palestinians, sparking outrage among Israeli officials, particularly the country’s Foreign Minister, Israel Katz.
Last week, Katz criticized Erdogan and accused him of turning Turkey into a “dictatorship.”
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said earlier this week that Katz had spread “lies” about Turkey and its president.
“For some time now, the person in question can no longer be taken seriously,” she said in a statement, adding that Ankara “will continue to support the Palestinians in the strongest possible way.”