Turkey submits request to join ICJ genocide case against Israel over Gaza war

Turkey had announced in May that it had decided to join the case – formally known as submitting a declaration of official intervention – and would make the necessary legal preparations.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan said it had made the formal request on Wednesday.

“The international community must do its part to stop the genocide and exert the necessary pressure on Israel and its supporters,” Fidan wrote on X.

“Turkey will make every effort to do so,” he added.

The court will make the final decision of admission to the case.

South Africa brought its case against Israel in December, accusing it of state-led genocide in the besieged enclave.

In January, the ICJ ordered Israel to refrain from any acts that could fall under the Genocide Convention and to ensure its troops commit no genocidal acts against Palestinians.

Israel has repeatedly dismissed the case’s accusations of genocide as baseless, arguing in court that its operations in Gaza are self-defence and targeted Hamas fighters who attacked Israel on Oct. 7 last year and killed 1,200 Israelis and foreigners in a single day.

In 10 months of subsequent warfare, more than 39,600 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, hundreds of thousands displaced, and most of the enclave laid to waste as a humanitarian crisis has unfolded.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan stated in January that Turkey was providing documents for the case at the ICJ, also known as the World Court.

Hamas has welcomed Turkey’s decision to join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the ICJ.

“We call on the countries of the world, especially the Arab and Islamic countries, to take an immediate step in also joining the case brought before the ICJ,” Hamas said in a statement, adding that it was vital to work towards establishing a “united front” to end Israel’s occupation and its threat to the region’s peace and security.

Turkey became the seventh country formally seeking to join the case at the UN top court after Colombia, Nicaragua, Spain, Libya, Palestine and Mexico.