President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced on Monday that Türkiye would submit a petition to join the world court genocide case against Israel on Wednesday. Ankara had earlier voiced intent to be a co-plaintiff in the case brought up by South Africa.

Cüneyt Yüksel, a lawmaker from Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and head of the Turkish Parliament’s legal committee, will lead a delegation to The Hague to hand over their petition to the international court.

"This is a historic step," he told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Tuesday.

"If our petition is admitted, Türkiye will take part in the judiciary process and make statements on Israel’s genocide in Gaza," he said.

Türkiye has been a staunch defender of the Palestinian cause and continues diplomatic and legal efforts to resolve the conflict.

A delegation of 15 legal experts from Türkiye recently presented a file to The Hague listing Israel’s war crimes. They cited evidence obtained on-site from Gaza, including notarized testimonies from the injured, civilians living there interviewed by phone and information from journalists who currently serve in the enclave and witness Israeli attacks firsthand.

In its case before the ICJ, South Africa accused Israel of perpetuating genocide in the Gaza Strip. In that case, the court called on Israel to do everything in its power to prevent genocide and recently ordered the country to "ensure urgent humanitarian assistance" in Gaza without delay.

The ICJ in May ordered Israel to halt its Rafah offensive and demanded the release of hostages and the "unhindered provision" of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The Hague-based ICJ, whose orders are legally binding but lack direct enforcement mechanisms, also instructed Israel to keep open the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza after Israel seized the Palestinian side in May, effectively shutting it.

Israel dismissed the ruling, insisting that the court had gotten it wrong.

Yüksel said they took the first step by sending a note to the ICJ on May 31 to declare their intent to join the case, adding that the process was the result of a lengthy effort. "We compiled our application file after legal and technical work and examined all relevant articles of the U.N. Genocide Convention in 1948," he said.

He added that their application file is comprised of evidence of Israel’s Gaza attacks that violated international laws and "exceeded genocide."

"Article 63 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice provides the necessary ground for our country to intervene in the genocide case against Israel. According to this article, making a general declaration regarding interpreting the disputed treaty is possible. We will submit our application under Article 63 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice. If our application is accepted, Türkiye will be involved in the entire judicial process and will make a bold statement before the court regarding Israel's genocide in Gaza. In the court, it will be possible to make declarations on interpreting the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which serves as the basis for South Africa's case. This application is a historic step. With this intervention application, Türkiye will show the whole world, in the eyes of international law, that it stands by the Palestinian cause and against the inhumane genocide in Gaza," Yüksel said.

"Israel committed and continues committing crimes. They opened a dark chapter in the world’s history. We will stand by President Erdoğan’s righteous defense of the Palestinian cause and take legal steps in accordance with this stand. Palestine will be free one day and Türkiye will remain the voice of freedom forever," he added.

Türkiye is doing everything in its power to end the "barbarism" that has claimed the lives of 40,000 innocents in Gaza over the past 10 months, President Erdoğan said after a Cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara on Monday.

"No matter what atrocities this bloodthirsty genocide network commits, it won't stop Türkiye or the Turkish people from standing in solidarity with the Palestinians," he added.

Türkiye, with all its resources, stands with Palestine "in these difficult days of struggle for its existence," he said.

Saying that last week's killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh marked "a new threshold in the Gaza crisis," Erdogan said that the "aggressive stance of Netanyahu's administration, defying both rules and the law," is subjecting the region to dire scenarios.

"No hopeful outcome emerged from the cease-fire talks. Despite Hamas's constructive stance, the Netanyahu administration has repeatedly demonstrated its intention to continue its policy of massacres," he added.