Germany rejected this earlier on Tuesday The International Court of Justice (ICJ) the allegations made by Nicaragua accuses Berlin of abetting the “genocide” in Gaza by providing political and military support to Israel. For more than two hours, German representatives in The Hague tried to refute the Nicaraguan government’s claim that Germany had violated the UN Genocide Convention, created after the Holocaust, by supplying weapons to Israel. “We reject Nicaragua’s unfounded allegations and there is no reason for the International Court of Justice to issue interim injunctions,” said the Federal Republic of Germany’s Director General for Legal Affairs. Tania von Uslar-Gleichen. “We are fully aware of our obligations under the Genocide Convention and international humanitarian law. And we will comply with them,” emphasized the head of the legal department of the Foreign Ministry.
Nicaragua accuses Germany of complicity in the genocide because, in its opinion The federal government supplies weapons to Israelly suspended payments to the Palestinian aid organization after allegations were made that some employees of the UNRWA – the UN agency for Palestinian refugees – supported Hamas. International lawyer Christian Tams, who also represents Germany before the International Court of Justice, replied to the court that the suspension of payments had no impact on the amount of aid.
Actually, Germany is the largest single donor with 254 million euros over the last year and a half, and rather than halting support after October 7, it has more than tripled its humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the occupied territories. Tams also denied, as Nicaragua defended, that German arms exports to Israel had encouraged the genocide, citing the strict licensing requirements of the various German ministries.
Since the Hamas attack, Berlin has issued four permits for the export of war weapons; In three cases it was training ammunition and in one case it was anti-tank weapons. “Nicaragua’s references to artillery shells or ammunition that would be used in Gaza simply have no connection to reality,” said the German defense, which also considers Nicaragua’s allegations to be legally questionable and the court’s jurisdiction to be irrelevant. In fact, it was doubted that Germany could be involved in the genocide, since the court had not yet established the genocide allegedly committed by Israel.
The British lawyer, Samuel Wordsworth A representative of Germany also emphasized: “The allegations could not be more serious and the measures demanded have direct and indirect effects on third countries.” This is precisely why real evidence is needed for a clearly contrary opinion, “and not, at best, a hasty and half-finished appeal to the court .”
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock reiterated that Germany is committed to international law both when it comes to Israel’s right to self-defense and when it comes to supporting the Palestinians: “That’s why we made it clear from the start that we would expand our own aid to include humanitarian aid in Gaza.” . She and Foreign Minister Olaf Scholz repeatedly emphasized that the Israeli government had a duty to distinguish between Hamas terrorists and the civilian population and to allow humanitarian aid to Gaza. Nicaragua has asked the International Court of Justice to take interim measures against Germany, such as stopping arms sales to Israel and resuming payments to the Palestinian aid organization. A decision from the 16 judges is expected within a few weeks.
