The first hearing for accusing Germany of facilitating genocide in the Gaza Strip began at the (ICJ) at The Hague on Monday.
Nicaragua has accused Germany of violating the and the laws of war due to its support for Israel.
It builds on that accuses Israel of genocide in its military offensive in — allegations that Israel has repeatedly denied.
Germany, which has rejected the allegations put forward by Nicaragua, is set to present its side in court on Tuesday.
“Germany has violated neither the Genocide Convention nor international humanitarian law and we will demonstrate this in full before the International Court of Justice,” German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer said on Monday.
What is Germany accused of?
Germany has long been a staunch ally of Israel with its leaders, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, repeatedly citing as Germany’s
This has continued in the wake of the October 7 terror attacks by Hamas that killed around 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s subsequent has seen more than 33,000 Palestinians killed, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
In his opening remarks on Monday, Nicaragua’s ambassador to the Netherlands Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez told the court that “there can be no question that Germany … was well aware, and is well aware, of at least the serious risk of genocide being committed” in the Gaza Strip.
“Germany is failing to honor its own obligation to prevent genocide or to ensure respect of international humanitarian law,” he added.
In its earlier , Nicaragua argued that by giving Israel political, financial and military support, and by defunding the United Nations aid agency for Palestinians, “Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide and, in any case has failed in its obligation to do everything possible to prevent the commission of genocide.”
“Germany’s failure is all the more reprehensible with respect to Israel given that Germany has a self-proclaimed privileged relationship with it, which would enable it to usefully influence its conduct,” the submission added.
What will the ICJ rule on?
Nicaragua has asked the court to order Germany to stop supplying weapons and other military aid to Israel and to reverse its decision to suspend funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, .
Although the case brought by Nicaragua focuses on Germany, it also indirectly takes aim at Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
During a hearing for the South African case against Israel earlier this year, Israeli legal adviser Tal Becker told judges at the court that the country is fighting a “war it did not start and did not want.”
zc/ab (Reuters, AFP, AP)
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