Activists urge Egypt to join South Africa in ICJ genocide case against Israel

Activists urged the Egyptian government this week to join South Africa in itsInternational Court of Justice (ICJ) case against Israel which accuses it of committing genocide against the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip.

In an online petition, a number of local and international activists, non-government organisations (NGOs), human rights groups and political parties called on Egypt “to call for enforcing measures under the  UN ‘Genocide Convention’ to ensure an immediate ceasefire and an end to the Israeli armed onslaught on Gaza”.

The petition further demands Egypt to form a committee consisting of the country’s prosecutor-general, diplomats, journalists, and representatives of the civil society and professional syndicates to detail and document the crimes of the Israeli occupation and add them to an official memo to present before the ICJ.  

Egypt's proximity to and historical relationship with the Gaza Strip, as well as its relations with Israel, have given Cairo a pivotal role in the region's affairs.

The ICJ is due to hold its first session next week to deliberate the case in Hague, Netherlands. 

Earlier last week, Egypt’s ex-vice president and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei said the Arab states that refrained from joining the ICJ proceedings against Israel did not represent their peoples.

In a post that Baradei shared on X, he described the Arab countries’ abstinence as “a stain of shame that cannot be erased”.

More than 22,800 Palestinians have been killed and more than 58,000 wounded since the Israel began its offensive on Gaza in October.

However, some are skeptical that Cairo will back the ICJ proceedings.

“The regime has different political calculations as to ties with Israel and the US. The military aid Egypt receives from the US as well as the peace treaty it had signed with Israel are factors impacting the government politics,” Prominent Egyptian political sociologist Dr Said Sadek told The New Arab.

“On the other hand, several Arab regimes have a history of genocide, as is the case with Algeria, Syria, and Iraq. So adopting the South African cause would be politically embarrassing for them,” he argued.

Egypt and Israel have technically been at peace since the late 1970s, sharing solid diplomatic, economic, and security ties– despite widespread opposition from the Egyptian public.