Egypt backed South Africa’s genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice

Translated by Alessandra Fumagalli 

Egypt backed South Africa’s genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice, that accuses Israel of having violated the Genocide Convention in its Gaza’s Strip war. 

The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Egypt joined South Africa’s genocide case, due to the Israeli aggressions against Palestinian people. 

“This decision comes due to the serious situation in the Gaza’s Strip, where there are several Israeli attacks against Palestinian people, as well as direct attacks to people and the destruction of infrastructures in the Strip, obliging Palestinian people to leave”, stated the Minister. 

On May 7, Israeli forces sequestered the Rafah border crossing, and the day before Hamas stated to have accepted the cease fire, mediated by Egypt and Qatar, that has been rejected by Israel. The birder was the main entrance ofaids in Gaza, but it has been closed since Israel took control of it. Tanks and airplanes bombed different areas and at least four houses in Rafah during the night, killing 20 Palestinians and injured other people, according to the Palestinian healthcare workers. 

The city hosted more than a million of Palestinian displaced people, who live in disastrous conditions and the international community warned Israel that  a land attack would be a humanitarian catastrophe for civilians. 

But the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Rafah’s offensive is necessary to defeat Hamas. 

Almost 110,000 Palestinians escaped Rafah, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA).   

Israel announced the attack on October, 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked South Israel, killing at least 1,139 people, most of them were civilians, according to Al Jazeera. 

South Africa started a case against Israel in January, accusing it of committing a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The death toll of the war started in October between Israel and Gaza overcame 35,000 people and most of them are children and women, according to Palestinian authorities. 

In January, the International Court of Justice passed a temporary sentence, that affirmed a plausible risk of genocide and warned Israel to adopt some measures, in order to avoid acts of genocide. The Court, located in Aia, declined a second South African request, asking for emergence measures, due to the Israel’s threat to attack Rafah. 

Egypt will join Turkey and Colombia in the genocide case against Israel. This month, Turkey stated that the country tried to join the case, when Colombia ask the International Court of Justice to accept it, to guarantee “security and the presence of the Palestinian people”. Egypt stated to have asked Israel to respect its duties and to act the measures of the ICJ, that ask to guarantee the access of humanitarian and safe aids, in order to satisfy Palestinians’ needs in the Gaza’s Strip. It also wants the Israeli forces not to commit any violations against Palestinian people. 

Israel affirmed that it acts according to the International Law in Gaza. It thinks that the South Africa’s genocide case is without foundation and accused Pretoria to act as the “legal arm of Hamas”.  

Alon Liel, ex-Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, stated to Al Jazeera that Egypt’s will is an “incredibile diplomatic measure for Israel”.   

“Egypt is the cornerstone of our position in Middle East”, he declared. The relationships among Israel and the Middle East and the North Africa, including the one with Jordan, United Arab Emirates and Morocco, are the result of the Egypt-Israel peace treaty signed in 1979. 

While Israel devastated Gaza, Egypt had to watch on with rising concern about the developments on its border. 

Its border with the Palestinian enclave has been a route for aid going in and people coming out, but Israel has had the ultimate say over access to the border, even if it did not have a physical presence there until last week. 

And it was that move - seeing Israeli troops to the Rafah border crossing, that experts believe has increased Egypt’s belief that Israel is not taking its security and political concerns seriously, and it is insets “disrespecting” them. 

On May 12, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Egypt had joined South Africa’s International Court of Justice genocide case against Israel. Egypt raised some concerns about Israeli’s military operations in Rafah, where almost 1,5 million Palestinians coming from all over Gaza had sought refuge. 

The takeover of the Philadelphi Route, which separated Egypt from Gaza, is particularly worrying for Cairo. The Philadelphi Route is a code name of Israeli defense forces, which indicates a corridor along the border between Egypt and Israel. The Egyptian Parliament has warned that Israeli military’s presence represents a violation of the Camp David Accords, that brought peace between Egypt and Israel.  

The possibility that Israel’s ultimate goal in Gaza is to force out its Palestinian population worried Egypt, since the beginning of the war in October. 

At the very beginning, Israel’s intelligence ministry drafted a paper that proposed the transfer of Gaza’s 2.3 million people to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Although Israeli government downplayed the report, Israeli politicians, including the far-right duo of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said they supported the “voluntar” migration of Palestinians from Gaza. 

The repeated suggestions have set off an alarm in Egypt, which considers any transfer of millions of Palestinian into its territory as a red line that can’t be crossed, and the President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi warned Israel against any such move. Egypt has sounded an alarm on the destabilizing prospects of an Israeli military operation in Raga and on any other military actions that can bring to the alleged resettlement plan. 

Israel has apparently taken measures to assuage Egypt’s concerns, by instructing Palestinians in Rafah to evacuate to al-Mawasi, a Rafah west coastal area, far away from Egypt. 

Israel claims that al-Mawasi is a “safe humanitarian zone”, bu aid groups say tens of thousands people are crammed into the area, without access to food or water. According to the United Nations, last week 450,000 people have fled Rafah, while nearly a million remain. 

Egypt hosted ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel, playing a critical role in mediating the two parties, together with Qatar and the United States. However, Egypt seems frustrated with Israel’s refusal to end the war, in exchange for the release of Israeli captives in Gaza.  

Two days before Israel stormed into eastern Rafah, Egypt, Qatar and the US pressed Hamas and Israel to sign a deal. Hamas agreed on a modified version of the ceasefire proposal presented at the talks, but Israel rejected it.

According to the Israeli press, Egyptian military officials cancelled a planned meeting with Israeli counterparts due to their disagreement over Rafah operation. Another delegation of Israeli intelligence officials would have arrived in Cairo on Wednesday, May, 15, for talks with the Egyptian counterparts on Rafah.

Egypt can do anything, except suspending its peace treaty with Israel, a move that experts believe to be unlikely. That step could jeopardize 1,6 billion dollar of military assistance that Egypt receives annually as part of the peace agreement.

Egypt’s decision to join South Africa at the International Court of Justice should also be seen as an attempt to pressure Israel’s strongest ally and largest weapons supplier, in order to take action on regional security.

Mondo Internazionale APS - Riproduzione Riservata ® 2024