Nicaragua, a longtime supporter of the Palestinian cause, is expanding the legal battle over the Gaza conflict at the International Court of Justice by filing a suit against Germany, a major arms supplier to Israel.
In hearings that opened Monday in The Hague, Nicaragua argued that Germany was facilitating the commission of genocide in Gaza and violating the Genocide Convention by providing Israel with military and financial aid. Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez, Nicaragua’s ambassador to the Netherlands, told the court that “it does not matter whether an artillery shell is delivered directly from Germany to an Israeli tank bombing a hospital” or whether it is used to replenish the stocks of Israel.
“The fact is that ensuring the supply and replacement of weapons is crucial for Israel’s continuation of attacks in Gaza,” he told the court, asserting that Germany is aware of the “serious risk of genocide.”
Nicaragua asked the court to issue emergency orders, saying that as a party to the Genocide Convention, Germany must immediately suspend its military aid to Israel and ensure that its supplies already in the country are not used illegally.
German Chancellery spokeswoman Christine Hoffman told reporters last week that the government rejected Nicaragua’s accusations. Germany is expected to respond to the matter on Tuesday morning.
The government of Nicaragua is itself facing sanctions for its repressive policies in its country. At the United Nations special report in February He said the government’s numerous abuses, including the imprisonment and deportation of opposition figures as well as Roman Catholic clerics, constituted “crimes against humanity.”
Nicaragua’s case brought Monday to The Hague raises new questions about the responsibility of countries that supplied weapons to Israel for the Gaza war.
Lawyers say Germany — Israel’s second-largest arms supplier after the United States — is an easier target than the United States for legal action. Germany has granted full jurisdiction to the International Court of Justice, the highest court of the United Nations. But the United States denies jurisdiction, except in cases where Washington explicitly gives its consent.
The Nicaraguan case is the third before the court this year that focuses on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
South Africa first asked the court for emergency measures, arguing that Israel was at risk of committing genocide, a claim the court found plausible but which Israel strongly denied. The court ordered Israel to ensure that its citizens and soldiers do not violate the Genocide Convention, which Israel has signed. The convention prohibits actions aimed at destroying, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.
South Africa also went to court over hunger in Gaza and won a new ruling ordering Israel to allow the delivery of food, water and other vital supplies “without delay”. Despite the Court’s authority, it has no means to force Israel to comply with its orders. Israel has strongly denied accusations of deliberate starvation in Gaza.
In February, the court also considered a case requested by the United Nations General Assembly on the legality of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories. These hearings, planned well before the war, heard from more than 50 countries, most of whom expressed anger and frustration over Israeli attacks on Gaza and the worsening civilian death toll.
Nicaragua’s case is much broader in scope than South Africa’s, citing violations of both the Geneva Conventions and the Genocide Convention and demanding protection of civilians. He also accuses Israel of other “illegal” behavior in the occupied territories.
The court has not yet accepted the case, but it is obliged to respond quickly to requests for emergency measures, as in this case.
Israel, which is not a party to the dispute between Nicaragua and Germany, will not appear in court during this week’s hearings, which are expected to last two days.
Supporting Israel is seen as a historic duty in Germany in light of the Holocaust, but the growing toll in Gaza has caused some German officials to question whether that support has gone too far.
Recent intense activity at court has placed her in a rare spotlight. Lawyers say the countries have turned to the court because efforts by the United Nations and other negotiators have so far failed to end the war in Gaza.
“The ICJ will not end the war in Gaza, but it is a diplomatic tool that foreign policy is using to put additional pressure on Israel,” said Brian Finucane, senior adviser at the International Crisis Group, a reflection on conflict resolution. . . “In the case of Nicaragua, it puts additional pressure on Germany.”
