Nicaragua's lawsuit demands that Germany stop exporting weapons and combat equipment to Israel (Reuters)
On Monday morning, the International Court of Justice began public hearings on the request for temporary measures submitted by Nicaragua against Germany on March 1, accusing it of “facilitating the commission of genocide” against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, through its military and political support for Israel.
Nicaragua will present the 43-page lawsuit on Monday, while the next day Germany will respond before the court, the highest judicial body in the United Nations.
Nicaragua said in the lawsuit that Germany is violating the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide signed in 1948, after the "Nazi Holocaust," adding that Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide by sending military equipment to Israel, and stopping funding for the United Nations Relief Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
Nicaragua calls on the court's judges to impose temporary measures to push Germany to stop providing all forms of support to Israel, including weapons, and stressed that the issuance of these measures is necessary and urgent to protect the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza.
Interim measures are emergency orders imposed by the court until the case is heard further.
On the other hand, German Foreign Ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer told reporters before the hearings, “We reject Nicaragu’s accusations,” considering that Germany did not violate the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide nor international humanitarian law.
The International Court of Justice has a noticeable presence in the war on Gaza, as South Africa, in a separate case before the court, accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
The court ordered Israel to take the necessary measures to prevent acts of genocide, and recently strengthened its position by demanding additional measures obligating Tel Aviv to enhance the possibility of delivering humanitarian aid to the Palestinian Strip, which has been under siege for 17 years.
Although the court's decisions are binding, it has no mechanism to enforce them.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza, leaving more than one hundred thousand dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of children and the elderly, according to Palestinian and UN data.
Israel continues the war despite the issuance of interim measures by the International Court of Justice, as well as despite the UN Security Council later issuing an immediate ceasefire resolution.
Source: Agencies