The government of Turkey announced on Wednesday that it is seeking to become a party to a case accusing Israel of “genocide” against the terrorist organization Hamas at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The ICJ case, brought to the court by the radical leftist government of South Africa, claims that Israel’s self-defense operations in the Hamas stronghold of Gaza are actually targeting civilians and intending to exterminate the local population. South Africa has struggled to make its case coherent, on one occasion misquoting the Bible in a failed attempt to claim Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had declared genocidal intent.
South Africa welcomed representatives of Hamas — a terrorist organization that explicitly calls for the genocide of Israelis and Jews generally — in December for friendly meetings with government leaders.
Turkey has similarly welcomed Hamas leaders, most recently warmly welcoming Ismail Haniyeh, the “political” leader of the group, to Istanbul in April. Islamist Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan is an enthusiastic Hamas supporter who has repeatedly claimed in public that the group is “not a terrorist organization” and compared Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
President @RTErdogan received Head of Hamas Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh at Dolmabahçe Presidential Office in Istanbul. pic.twitter.com/L1haaOyRpX
— Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye (@trpresidency) April 20, 2024
“After the decision to join (the case) is made by our esteemed President, we will submit our official application following legal work,” Cuneyt Yuksel, the chairman of the Turkish Grand National Assembly’s Justice Committee, announced on Wednesday, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency. “As we have done until today, we will continue our efforts with determination to ensure the condemnation of Israel, which has been condemned by the conscience of humanity, and also in the eyes of the law.”
“The Palestinian issue, envisaged to be based on the rule of law and international law, is a matter that could even affect the sustainability of the current international order and lead to global consequences,” Yuksel claimed, accusing Israel of “apartheid,” presumably for allowing Hamas and the Palestinian Authority to govern territories, and “occupation” of those same territories.
Anadolu noted that Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan confirmed the plan to join South Africa at the Hague.
“Upon completion of the legal text of our work, we will submit the declaration of official intervention before the ICJ with the objective of implementing this political decision,” the Qatari outlet Al Jazeera quoted Fidan as saying.
“Turkey will continue to support the Palestinian people in all circumstances,” he promised.
Al Jazeera noted that Erdogan had stated in January that Turkey was already seeking to provide aid to South Africa for the case and that Turkey was the second country to formally apply to join the case, after Colombia.
Colombia enjoyed decades of friendly ties to Israel, including benefitting from significant military cooperation, until Wednesday, when socialist President Gustavo Petro announced an official end in diplomatic relations in support of Hamas. Petro is the first leftist president in the history of Colombia.
The ICJ at the Hague is the top court of the United Nations. It can only hear cases between state parties — the members of the United Nations — and cannot try individuals. As Al Jazeera notes, a ruling in the Israel case may take years to come down. The ICJ responded initially to South Africa’s complaint by issuing a statement urging Israel not to commit genocidal actions and to facilitate humanitarian aid to civilians, but has refused to move to grant emergency rulings preventing Israeli operations against Hamas in Gaza, most notably the expected operation in southern Rafah, the last remaining Hamas stronghold in the Gaza Strip.
South Africa has not similarly moved to punish Hamas for the event that prompted Israel’s self-defense operations, the harrowing siege of the country by jihadists on October 7. On that day, Hamas terrorists invaded the country and committed door-to-door massacres against random civilians in residential communities, killing entire families in their homes, including infants. Hamas is estimated to have killed 1,200 people, engaged in widespread gang rapes, and abducted 250 people, of which about 130 are believed to remain in captivity today.
Beyond failing to condemn Hamas, a report published by the Jerusalem Post in January found evidence that South African banks are facilitating the funding of Hamas through shell companies.
Turkey’s Erdogan, in turn, has been one of the most vocal supporters of Hamas since October 7, refusing to condemn the siege and welcoming Hamas leaders to his country.
“Hamas is not a terrorist organization, it is a group of mujahideen defending their lands,” Erdogan proclaimed on October 25.
That same month, Erdogan hosted a gathering he branded the “Great Palestine Rally” at Istanbuk’s Atatürk Airport, where the Turkish government claimed 1.5 million people assembled to support Hamas.
“Israel, we will declare you to the world as a war criminal. We are preparing for introducing Israel to the world as a war criminal,” Erdogan announced at the time, repeating, “Hamas is not a terrorist organization.”
Prior to seeking a role in the ICJ case, Turkish attorneys related to Erdogan’s Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) announced in November they would pursue a case against Netanyahu personally at the International Criminal Court (ICC). Unlike the ICJ, the ICC can process cases against individuals and only takes cases involving three international crimes: war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Turkey is not a party to the Rome Statute, the document that created the ICC, so its ability to bring a case before the ICC remains at most unclear. Israel is also not a party to the Rome Statute.
“On behalf of the conscience of our citizens of the Republic of Turkey, against the genocide committed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,” one of the attorneys, Metin Külünk, announced, “the Hitler of this century, in Gaza, that all the crimes he committed are crimes against humanity and that he must be tried in the International Criminal Court for the crime of genocide and as a murderer.”
