Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
The Netherlands and Iceland have formally joined the case brought by South Africa against Israel at the world’s highest court, filing declarations of intervention at the International Court of Justice concerning alleged violations of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip.
According to the court, both countries submitted their declarations on March 11 under Article 63 of the ICJ statute, which allows states that are parties to a treaty under interpretation in a case to intervene in proceedings before the court. The case was originally filed by South Africa against Israel, accusing it of breaching its obligations under the genocide convention during the war in Gaza.
The ICJ has invited both parties to submit written observations regarding the interventions by Netherlands and Iceland before deciding how the participation of the two states will proceed.
The developments come as international legal scrutiny of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza continues to intensify more than two years after the war began. The move by the two European countries also coincides with the approach of International Al-Quds Day, which is observed annually in several countries in solidarity with the Palestinian cause and in opposition to Israeli control over Jerusalem, known in Arabic as Al-Quds.
Meanwhile, fighting and tensions on the ground remain high despite a ceasefire agreement signed between Israel and Hamas in October 2025. Palestinian sources report that Israeli forces have repeatedly violated the ceasefire through continued airstrikes and military operations, resulting in hundreds of additional casualties since the truce took effect.
According to Palestinian health authorities, at least 72,136 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of Israel’s military campaign on October 7, 2023, with the majority reported to be women and children. A further 171,839 people have been injured during the same period.
Medical sources say that since the October 2025 ceasefire, approximately 651 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,741 wounded in continued hostilities.
Humanitarian organizations warn that the official figures may underestimate the true scale of casualties, as thousands of people remain missing or are believed to be trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings across the Gaza Strip.
Beyond direct military violence, the humanitarian situation in the enclave has deteriorated dramatically. Aid agencies report that thousands of additional deaths have been linked to starvation, exposure to cold, and the collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system following months of blockade and infrastructure destruction.
In August 2025, the United Nations declared that famine conditions had developed in Gaza as a result of the prolonged blockade and severe shortages of food and medical supplies.
Medical workers reported that at least 25 children died from malnutrition in early March 2026 alone, underscoring the deepening humanitarian crisis.
Violence has also spread beyond Gaza. In the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, at least 1,058 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023, according to Palestinian officials, as clashes and Israeli military operations have intensified across the territory.
The intervention by the Netherlands and Iceland is expected to add further international legal pressure to the case before the ICJ, which could take years to reach a final ruling but may shape global legal interpretations of state obligations under the genocide convention.
