Egypt has announced it will support South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in a sign of Cairo's frustration with Israel's military operation in the southern city of Rafah in Gaza, reported DPA, quoted by BTA.
A statement from Egypt's foreign ministry said the move came "in view of the increasing intensity and scale" of Israeli attacks on civilians in Gaza and the "continued application of systematic practices" against the Palestinians, including attacks on civilians and destruction of infrastructure.
Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, but the military campaign in Gaza has fueled anti-Israel sentiment in the world's most populous Arab country, DPA notes.
This week, Israel took control of the Gaza Strip at the Rafah border crossing. with Egypt. The operation led to the suspension of humanitarian aid supplies to the densely populated strip.
Cairo also fears that a major Israeli incursion into Rafah, crowded with refugees from the fighting in Gaza, would trigger a mass exodus to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
Israel, for its part, considers Rafah the last bastion of the Palestinian Islamist group "Hamas", which last October killed hundreds of civilians in Israel.
Earlier, the Egyptian television "Al Kahera News" reported, citing a high-ranking source, that the country has refused to coordinate with Israel the entry of aid into Gaza through the Rafah checkpoint. because of the "unacceptable Israeli escalation", DPA recalls.