CAIRO
Egypt on Sunday said it would intervene in support of South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, citing the growing scale of Israel’s operations in Gaza and their impact on civilians.
The move highlights the growing tensions between the two neighbours as the Israeli operation in border town Rafah tests long-term agreements and security cooperation. It also further strains US-Israeli relations.
Egypt on Sunday said its move to back the case comes “in light of the worsening severity and scope of Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip”, according to a foreign ministry statement.
It further pointed to Israel’s systematic “targeting of civilians and destruction of infrastructure” and “pushing Palestinians into displacement and expulsion”.
Pretoria had brought its case to the ICJ in December, calling on the UN court to order Israel to suspend its military operations in Gaza.
Hamas expressed its “appreciation” to Egypt in a statement on Sunday evening, calling on “all countries around the world to take similar steps in support of the Palestinian cause by joining the lawsuit”.
South Africa asked the court on Friday to order Israel to withdraw from Rafah as part of additional emergency measures in an ongoing case that accuses Israel of acts of genocide.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that Gaza risked an “epic humanitarian disaster” if Israel launched a full-scale ground operation in Rafah.
Furthermore, Egypt has refused to coordinate with Israel on the entry of aid into Gaza from the Rafah crossing due to Israel’s “unacceptable escalation”, Egypt’s state affiliated Alqahera News satellite TV reported on Saturday, citing a senior official.
Egypt has issued repeated warnings against escalation since negotiators from both Israel and Hamas departed Cairo on Thursday after talks again failed to achieve a truce.
Egyptian security sources told Reuters that Egyptian officials had relayed to Israel that they blamed its actions for the strained bilateral relations and the breakdown of ceasefire talks delegations from Hamas, Israel, the US, Egypt and Qatar have held in Cairo.
But Cairo is sending conflicting signals about the long-term impact of current tensions. A senior Egyptian official told The Associated Press that Cairo has lodged protests with Israel, the United States and European governments, saying the offensive has put its decades-old peace treaty with Israel, a cornerstone of regional stability, at high risk. The official was not authorised to brief media and spoke on condition of anonymity.
At the same time, Minister Sameh Shoukry sought to calm worries over the future of the peace deal.
“The peace agreement with Israel has been Egypt’s strategic choice for 40 years, and it represents a core pillar of peace in the region for peace and stability,” he said adding, without going into details, that there are mechanisms for adjudicating violations of the agreement.
Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, and has acted as a key mediator between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, including in the current war.
It also shares the only border with the Gaza Strip not controlled by Israel, but has refused to coordinate aid access through the Rafah crossing since Israeli forces seized it.
On May 7, Israeli forces occupied the main border crossing at Rafah, closing a vital route for aid into the besieged enclave.
The United Nations and other international aid agencies said the closing of the two crossings into southern Gaza, Rafah and Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom, had virtually cut the enclave off from outside aid and very few stores were available inside.
Rafah borders Egypt near the main aid entry points, which already are affected. Israeli troops have captured the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing, forcing it to shut down.
The exodus of Palestinians from Gaza’s last refuge accelerated on Sunday as Israeli forces pushed deeper into the southern city of Rafah. Israel also pounded the territory’s devastated north, where some Hamas militants are said to have regrouped in areas the Israel military had announced it had cleared months ago.
Rafah had been sheltering 1.3 million Palestinians, most of whom had fled fighting elsewhere. But Israel has now evacuated the eastern third of the city.
Most people are heading to the heavily-damaged nearby city of Khan Younis or Muwasi, a coastal tent camp where some 450,000 people are already living in squalid conditions.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated opposition to a major military assault on Rafah, and told CBS that Israel would “be left holding the bag on an enduring insurgency” without an exit from Gaza and postwar governance plan.
An all-out Israeli offensive on the Gaza city of Rafah would provoke “anarchy” without eliminating Hamas, he said.
Separately, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan emphasised Washington’s concerns about an offensive in a call with his Israeli counterpart, Tzachi Hanegbi.
“Mr Sullivan reiterated President Biden’s long-standing concerns over the potential for a major military ground operation into Rafah, where over one million people have taken shelter,” a White House readout of the phone call said.
It said Hanegbi “confirmed that Israel is taking US concerns into account,” but did not elaborate.
On Sunday, Hamas touted attacks against Israeli soldiers in Rafah and near Gaza City.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu vowed to continue fighting until victory in memory of those killed in the war. But in Tel Aviv, hundreds of protesters stood outside military headquarters demanding an immediate cease-fire deal to return the hostages.