The United Nations top court, the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) will next week hear South Africa's case against Israel’s alleged genocide in Gaza.
The hearing is scheduled for Jan. 11 and 12, a South African Foreign Ministry official said.
"We will be appearing in court of the ICJ on the 11th of this month. We will be presenting our case as to why we think based on all the evidence including the special intent of the crime of genocide, we have found that based on many statements from leaders that a special intent is available," Zane Dangor, director general of the Foreign Ministry, told national broadcaster SABC late Tuesday.
South Africa, which has backed the Palestinian cause for decades, launched the case late last month, requesting the ICJ to investigate alleged acts of genocide committed by Israel in Gaza and declare on an urgent basis that Israel is in breach of its obligations in terms of the 1948 Genocide Convention.
It requested the court to ask Israel to immediately cease all acts and measures in breach of its obligations.
Israel will appear before the ICJ to contest South Africa's genocide accusations, an Israeli government spokesman said on Tuesday.
Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) recently published a book titled The Evidence, containing visuals that expose possibly criminal actions by Israel in Gaza. South Africa is using the photo evidence at the ICJ to argue its case.
The death toll from the Israeli assault on Gaza since the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion has crossed 22,000, more than half of them women and children.
Most of the enclave’s population of more than 2.2 million remains under siege and bombardment, displaced, and short of food.
Türkiye on Wednesday welcomed South Africa's move to bring Israel before the ICJ.
"We welcome the application of South Africa to the International Court of Justice against Israel for violation of its obligations under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide," Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Öncü Keçeli said on X.
"Israel's massacre of more than 22,000 Palestinian civilians, mostly women and children, in Gaza for nearly three months cannot go unpunished, and those responsible must be held accountable before international law," he added.
"We hope that the process will be completed as soon as possible. "
The ICJ is expected to issue an interim injunction ordering Israel to stop its attacks on Gaza, he said.
Keçeli said that Türkiye will follow the implementation of this decision.
