Above photo: A man holds both Palestinian and Turkish flags at a rally in Istanbul on January 1, 2024. Ilker Eray/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images.
“Israel’s murder of more than 22,000 Palestinian civilians, the majority of whom were women and children, in Gaza for nearly three months should not go unpunished in any way.”
South Africa is no longer alone in bringing its claim of genocide by the Israeli government to the International Court of Justice, following announcements from the Turkish Foreign Ministry and the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that they support the case.
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli said Wednesday that those responsible for the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza since October 7 “must be held accountable before international law.”
“Israel’s murder of more than 22,000 Palestinian civilians, the majority of whom were women and children, in Gaza for nearly three months should not go unpunished in any way,” Keceli said. “We hope that the process will be completed as soon as possible.”
The ICJ is scheduled to hear the case on January 11-12. Israeli representatives are expected to appear at the hearing.
International rights groups issued a call on Wednesday for other countries to file Declarations of Intervention at the court, whose authority Israel recognizes, to bolster South Africa’s case.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said it expects “that within the framework of this application, the ICJ will decide on provisional measures involving those to stop Israel’s attacks on Gaza.”
The Malaysia Ministry of Foreign Affairs said late Tuesday that it “welcomes the application by South Africa instituting proceedings against Israel… concerning the violations by Israel of its obligations under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in relation to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”
A spokesperson for the South African Foreign Ministry told The Jerusalem Post that it expects other countries to soon follow Turkey and Malaysia’s lead and back its case.
In its 84-page complaint, South Africa detailed the genocidal intent that’s been displayed in numerous public statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, and other top officials, as well as Israel’s bombardment of civilian targets and forced displacement of civilians.