Türkiye to make statement at ICJ on Israeli war crimes in Palestine

Türkiye will make an oral statement at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) during a hearing on the legal consequences of Israeli actions in occupied Palestinian land.

Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmet Yildiz will make the presentation at the ICJ on Monday.

Oncu Keceli, the Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said that UN General Assembly has requested an opinion from the ICJ regarding the legal consequences of Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and its actions to change the population structure and status of the occupied East Jerusalem.

He said that 57 countries and international organisations, including Türkiye, have actively submitted written contributions to the ICJ.

“At the end of this process, legal findings regarding the oppression of Palestinians will be presented,” Oncu Keceli, the Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said on X on Sunday.

"An uncertain path”

Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus stressed on Sunday that the threat to Palestinians taking shelter at the Rafah Border Gate puts Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on an uncertain path.

Kurtulmus said that Netanyahu and his team should be isolated internationally due to their brutal military attacks against Palestinians on Gaza, and he sees the trial at the ICJ as an opportunity that could serve this purpose.

He expressed hope that the trials at the ICJ will lead to a road, where “Netanyahu and war criminal top executives such as (former political leader of Bosnia's Serbs Radovan) Karadzic and (former Serb commander) Ratko Mladic are destined to be held accountable and punished at the international war crimes court as well.”

“Israel's massacres, which have reached such a grave, brutal and genocidal dimension without even the slightest humanitarian characteristic, by trampling on all international law, are now seen by all countries of the world,” he decried.

Even the countries that want to support Israel can no longer express their words as strongly as before, Kurtulmus stressed, noting: "I personally believe that with South Africa's application to the International Court of Justice in The Hague and the favorable announcement of the interim decision there, a new era has begun for the Palestinian cause."

Forthcoming International Court of Justice (ICJ) Session

A total of 52 countries, including Türkiye and three international organisations, will deliver oral statements at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) during a hearing on Monday.

The hearing will focus on the legal consequences of Israel's actions in the occupied Palestinian territories, as announced by the top UN court. Top of Form Türkiye's statement is set for midday Monday, February 26.

The primary duties of the ICJ include resolving legal disputes between states in line with international law and providing advisory opinions on legal issues referred to.

The UN court, at the request of the UN General Assembly, will issue a non-binding advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's policies and acts in occupied Palestine on this issue.

The public hearings of the court at the Hague Peace Palace will be broadcast live.

This is the first time such a large number of states made written and oral statements to an advisory opinion before the court, while Israel, which made written statements, did not take part in the oral hearings.