Nicaragua has brought Germany before the ICJ on allegations of aiding genocide. Image source: CIJ ICJ, via X.
Nicaragua has accused Germany of aiding in genocide against Palestinians by exporting weapons to Israel.
Germany has denied the allegations.
Proceedings before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) began on 8 April.
Germany has been one of Israel’s strongest supporters since the Hamas-Israel War broke out in October.
They are also the largest individual donor of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
Nicaragua alleges that Germany is in breach of the 1948 Genocide Convention by providing arms to Israel with knowledge there is a risk of genocide.
According to Economy Ministry data, Germany supplied Israel with 326.5 million euros ($535 million) worth of equipment and weapons in 2023.
Lawyers for Nicaragua have requested the ICJ to order Germany to cease the sale of weapons to Israel.
German Foreign Ministry legal adviser Tania von Uslar-Gleichen told the court that the weapon exports were scrutinised to ensure adherence with international law.
“Germany is doing its utmost to live up to its responsibility vis-à-vis both the Israeli and the Palestinian people,” said von Uslar-Gleichen.
She requested Nicaragua’s case to be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, claiming it was based on weak evidence.
Nicaraguan ambassador to the Netherlands Carlos Argüello Gómez said that Germany seemed unable “to differentiate between self-defence and genocide”.
“If the actions of Israel continue to be unrestrained as they have since its birth as a state, and they continue to receive the indiscriminate support of states like Germany, then a new generation of Palestinians will rise up again in the future,” said Gómez.
Speaking for Nicaragua, lawyer Daniel Müller told the ICJ that it is “a pathetic excuse to the Palestinian children, women, and men to provide humanitarian aid… on the one hand and to furnish the military equipment that is used to kill and annihilate them… on the other hand.”
In January, the ICJ ordered that Israel must take steps to prevent genocidal actions in their assault on Gaza.
The ICJ has not made a final ruling, however, and the court has not called for a ceasefire.
Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed at least 33,207 Palestinians and injured more than 75,000 since October, according to the Hamas-operated Gaza Health Ministry.
The Palestinian death toll was estimated at 24,000 people in January.
The ICJ’s press releases and verbatim records in relation to the case can be found here.
