‘Deepening occupation’: Turkey condemns Israel on last day of ICJ hearing

Turkey has joined a large number of countries that have condemned Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Turkey’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmet Yildiz was the first representative to speak on the last day of the hearings on Monday, capping a weeklong event that saw 52 countries and several international organisations testify to Israel’s occupation of Palestine.

He said the long-running conflict could have been settled by now if international and human rights laws were upheld by Israel and its Western allies, and emphasised how the United Nations Security Council has failed to protect the unalienable rights of the Palestinians.

He said the “deepening occupation by Israel of the Palestinian territories” and the failure of its allies to commit to implementing a two-state solution were the main underlying issues.

Reporting from outside the court in The Hague, Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith said Turkey echoed many of the arguments that have been made by dozens of countries since last week.

“Turkey said Palestinians were subject to practices from the Middle Ages under occupation, it said that Palestinians only need emancipation with dignity,” he said.

“And there was particular focus from the Turks on the Haram al-Sharif as it is called by Muslims, or the Temple Mount as the Jews call it, which is supposed to be administered by the Jordanians in a longstanding principle dating to before the creation of the state of Israel. Turkey accuses the Israelis of frequently abusing the independence of Haram al-Sharif.”

This case is separate from the genocide case by South Africa against Israel for its ongoing war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 30,000 Palestinians since October 7, mostly women and children. The Israeli army has killed about 400 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in the same period.

The Israeli military continued to shell various parts of the Gaza Strip during the ICJ hearing, killing more than 90 Palestinians and wounding 164 in the 24 hours leading to the final hearing.

Tamer Qarmout, assistant professor of public policy at Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, said Turkey had taken more drastic measures in the past when dealing with Israel, including the severing of diplomatic and economic ties.

“But in this war, we have seen a different stand,” he told Al Jazeera, adding that the Turkish government is still critical of Israel but does not take similar positions like the ones in the past.

“I think [this] has to do with Turkey’s internal policies and politics,” he said, citing Turkey’s recovery from a serious economic crisis as a cause. “They [Turkish officials] don’t want to antagonise other key partners in the West by taking drastic positions.”