Turkey joining South Africa’s genocide lawsuit, Israel’s embassies on alert worldwide
Turkey announced it is joining South Africa’s genocide lawsuit against Israel in the International Court of Justice on Wednesday.
Embassy of Turkey in Israel
“Our legal experts have been studying how to participate in the legal case against Israel at the ICJ,” said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan as he announced the move.
Fidan said an application will soon be filed with the ICJ.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz instructed Israel’s embassies to “immediately prepare for the outbreak of a severe anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli anti-Semitic wave in the world.”
Due to what the Foreign Ministry said is the “seriousness of the threat,” Katz also instructed Israeli representatives to impress on local Jewish communities the need to boost security for their institutions.
During the mid-January hearings, South Africa argued to the judges in the Hague that Israel’s military campaign was intended to cause “the destruction of the population” of the Gaza Strip.
Israeli representatives, led by former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak, rejected the claims, arguing that Israel has a right to defend itself, respects international law, and that Palestinian casualties were the result of Hamas embedding its tunnels and military infrastructure in civilian areas.
Israel, which is not a member of the ICJ, also argued that the court has no jurisdiction and asked the court to reject the case outright.
In a provisional ruling issued on January 26, the ICJ ordered Israel by a vote of 15-2 to “take all measures” to prevent “genocide” in Gaza, but did not order the implementation of a ceasefire.
Legal experts said it could take years for a final ruling on whether Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians. However, a ruling on the genocide claim, while legally binding, would be difficult to enforce.
Bracing for Possible Arrest Warrants
Meanwhile, Israeli leaders are bracing for the possibility that the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, may soon issue warrants for the arrest of senior Israeli officials for war crimes, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and Chief of the Israel Defence Forces Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi. It is also speculated that Khan will ask for warrants to be issued against Hamas leaders.
Although both the ICC and ICJ are based in the Hague, they are separate courts.
Israel is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, which founded the ICC.
Further straining Jerusalem-Ankara ties, Turkey gave permission for a provocative flotilla to depart from Istanbul to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza. The convoy of three ships was spearheaded by an Islamist aid organization with ties to Hamas.
However, the flotilla suffered a setback on Friday when Guinea-Bissau withdrew its flag from two of the convoy’s three ships. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition blamed Israeli pressure and vowed that the ships would eventually sail.
At least 1,200 people were killed and 240 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Around 30 of the remaining 133 hostages are believed dead.
