ICJ's decision echoes our motto 'the world is bigger than 5' — Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has welcomed the recent ruling by the International Court of Justice against Israel.

"The decision taken by the International Court of Justice yesterday echoes our motto that 'the world is bigger than 5'," Erdogan said on Saturday.

"We once again call on Israel to heed to the voice of the international community and institutions and to immediately cease its attacks and massacres," he added.

South Africa dragged Israel to The Hague-based ICJ on December 29 on charges of genocide against Palestinians. On Friday, the ICJ found South Africa's claim that Israel is committing genocide plausible.

The court issued an interim order urging Israel to stop obstructing aid deliveries into Gaza and improve the humanitarian situation.

After the ruling, Erdogan welcomed the interim decision by the ICJ, describing the provisional measures issued as "valuable."

"We will continue to follow the process to ensure that war crimes committed against innocent Palestinian civilians do not go unpunished," Erdogan said.

The ICJ ordered Israel to take "immediate and effective" measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance in Gaza but fell short of ordering a ceasefire.

With the latest Palestinian casualties, the death toll from Israel's ongoing attacks on Gaza since October 7 has risen to 26,257, with 64,797 others injured, Gaza's Health Ministry said.

Israel has pounded Gaza since a cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

The Israeli offensive has left 85 percent of Gaza's population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60 percent of the enclave's infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.