The Palestinians plan to join South Africa's genocide lawsuit against Israel currently before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry in Ramallah has applied to join the case, the court announced in The Hague on Monday evening.
The ministry requested this on behalf of Palestine, which is not yet recognized as a state by the United Nations; instead it has observer status at the UN.
It is unclear when the court will rule on the Palestinian application. If it were to approve it, the Palestinian authorities would be allowed to actively participate in the proceedings. Other countries have also signalled their intention to join South Africa's lawsuit. These include Colombia, Libya and Nicaragua.
South Africa filed a complaint against Israel with the highest court of the United Nations at the end of 2023, accusing the state of violating the Genocide Convention due to its attacks on the Gaza Strip. In three decisions to date, the court has obliged Israel to take immediate measures to protect civilians.
However, the main proceedings on the accusation of genocide are not affected by this. It could drag on for years.
Israel has strictly rejected the accusations and invokes its right to self-defence following the terrorist attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas and other groups on October 7. Around 1,200 people were murdered in the attack.
According to the Palestinian authorities, more than 36,000 people have been killed by Israeli attacks since then.
