(Cairo) Egypt announced on Sunday its intention to join South Africa in its recent request to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to impose new emergency measures on Israel, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A decision which comes “in light of the increased severity and extent of Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip”, Israel’s systematic targeting of “civilians and the destruction of infrastructure” and its incitement “to the displacement of Palestinians”, according to the same source.
In a statement, Hamas said it was “grateful for Egypt’s announcement” on the ICJ.
The Palestinian Islamist movement calls on “Arab and Muslim countries and all countries around the world to take similar measures to support the Palestinian cause by joining in legal actions” against Israel, “to cut all relations with it” and “to isolate it internationally.
This is the third time that Pretoria has requested additional measures from the highest UN court, after having seized it at the end of December, accusing Israel of perpetrating a “genocide” in Gaza, an accusation vehemently denied by Israel.
The situation “resulting from the Israeli attack on Rafah” causes, according to South Africa, “new developments which cause irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people of Gaza”, declared Pretoria on Friday, according to a press release from the ICJ.
In particular, South Africa asks the ICJ to order Israel to guarantee that it will “immediately withdraw and cease its military offensive in Rafah governorate,” the request states, and “immediately take all effective measures to ensure and facilitate unimpeded access to Gaza” for humanitarian assistance.
Egypt was the first Arab country to reach a peace agreement with Israel in 1979. It often plays a mediating role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the current war.
It also shares with Gaza the only border of the small besieged territory that is not under direct Israeli control.
Defying international warnings, the Israeli army has been carrying out incursions into eastern Rafah since Tuesday and took control of the border crossing with Egypt, blocking a key entry point for humanitarian aid convoys.
Since then, Egypt has refused to coordinate with Israel the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip.
Cairo has repeatedly warned of ongoing escalation since Israeli and Palestinian negotiators left Egypt, ending talks that failed to achieve a truce.