Germany has rejected Nicaragua's accusation that Germany is violating the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law by supporting Israel in its war in Gaza.
Nicaragua argued at the United Nations' top court that Germany's support enables acts of genocide by Israel. On Tuesday, Tania von Uslar-Gleichen, the head of Germany's legal team, said Nicaragua's claims "have no basis in fact or law."
Preliminary hearings on Monday and Tuesday focused on Nicaragua's request for "provisional measures," such as requiring Germany to halt its military and other aid to Israel and reinstate its funding to the U.N. aid agency in Gaza.
German representatives urged judges to reject Nicaragua's calls for provisional measures and toss out the case entirely. They assert that 98% of Germany's military exports to Israel since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas have not been weapons of war but additional equipment. They also used photos of German airdropped aid to Gaza to prove the country is giving humanitarian support to the Palestinians.
Nicaragua's is not the first legal attempt to influence Israel's actions in Gaza. South Africa accused Israel of genocide last year. Additionally, there is growing criticism of the war and calls for Israel's allies to stop supplying it with weapons.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told reporters that "from Day One after October 7, Germany has faced up to the incredible dilemma that Hamas deliberately entrenched itself behind civilians, deliberately used the human suffering of Palestinians and Palestinians in Gaza to expand its attack on Israel."
Baerbock also mentioned Germany's commitment to international law and Israel's right to self-defense. The total death toll in Gaza is over 33,000, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry. The number does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but it has been said that women and children make up the majority of those killed.
At Monday's hearings before the court in the Netherlands, Nicaragua's ambassador to the Netherlands, Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez, accused Germany of "failing to honor its own obligation to prevent genocide or to ensure respect of international humanitarian law."
One of Germany's lawyers, Samuel Wordsworth, argued that Germany could not be violating its obligation to prevent genocide because judges have not ruled that Israel is violating the Genocide Convention. In the case brought by South Africa last year, the U.N. court said it is "plausible" that Israel's actions breach the convention.
The United States is the only country supplying more arms to Israel than Germany, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. But the United States does not recognize the International Court of Justice's power to compel countries into court, and it has not signed the protocol to the Genocide Convention that says countries can bring disputes before the court.
Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press.
