Palestinians wave a national flag and an Egyptian flag as they take part in a rally calling on Egyptian authorities to open the Rafah crossing in the southern Gaza Strip in 2013. More than a decade later, Egypt has requested to join a genocide case against Israel, and many of the issues in the war remain the same. UPI/Ismael Mohamad | License Photo
Egypt will enter a genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice, joining South Africa and citing worsening attacks on Gazan civilians, Cairo announced over the weekend.
The ICJ has accused Israel of failing to meet its obligations under the Genocide Convention, Al Jazeera reported. Advertisement
“The submission … comes in light of the worsening severity and scope of Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, and the continued perpetration of systematic practices against the Palestinian people, including direct targeting of civilians and the destruction of infrastructure in the Strip, and pushing Palestinians to flee,” the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Sunday.
South Africa accused filed its case against Israel in January. The death toll in Gaza has reportedly sur[passed 35,000 people, according to Gazan health officials, who claim many of the victims are women and children.
Israel’s ongoing attacks on Gaza are in response to a surprise attack by Hamas on an outdoor concert in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed more than 1,200 people. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for the attack, but as the war has worn on and the Gazan death toll has risen, he has risked losing international support, including from the United States, which has called on Netanyahu to moderate the Israeli Defense Forces attacks on the Gaza strip in light of civilian casualties. Advertisement
The U.S. also said it would not supply Israel with weapons for a ground invasion of Rafah, where many Palestinians have fled seeking safety.
Humanitarian officials have also faced danger. 7 international workers from the World Central Kitchen were killed by Israeli shelling in April.
“This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” World Central Kitchen CEO Erin Gore, said following the IDF shelling.
Workers have also found it increasingly difficult to get medical and other humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, leaving civilians vulnerable to hunger and disease.
Egypt joins Turkey and Colombia in the case against Israel. Turkey has said it would join the case after Colombia signed on last month, asking the ICJ to ensure “the safety and, indeed, the very existence of the Palestinian people.”
It could take years before the ICJ determines the genocide case, and even if the court finds merit in the charges, its rulings are largely symbolic and carry no enforcement actions or penalties.
