Germany on Tuesday strongly rejected a case brought by Nicaragua before the United Nations’ highest court accusing Berlin of facilitating violations of the Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law by providing weapons and other support to Israel in its deadly attack on Gaza. .
“As soon as we look closely, Nicaragua’s accusations fall apart,” Christian Tams, a member of Germany’s legal team, told the 16-judge panel of the International Court of Justice.
On Monday, Nicaragua urged judges to order a halt to German military aid to Israel, arguing that Berlin’s support enables acts of genocide and violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza.
The head of Germany’s legal team, Tania von Uslar-Gleichen, said Nicaragua’s claims “have no basis in fact or law. “They depend on an evaluation of the conduct of Israel, which is not a party to these proceedings.”
Preliminary hearings held on Monday and Tuesday focus solely on Nicaragua’s request for so-called provisional measures, including a court order for Berlin to suspend military and other aid to Israel and restore funding to the aid agency. the UN in Gaza.
To close Germany’s arguments, Von Uslar-Gleichen urged the judges not to impose preliminary measures and dismiss Nicaragua’s case.
Tams said Germany had only authorized four war weapons exports to Israel since October, “three of which concern test or practice equipment.” He said that 98% of military exports to Israel since the October 7 attacks were not weapons of war, but other equipment.
The email you need to receive the top news stories from Canada Day and around the world.
Showing the judges a photograph of German aid airdropped over Gaza, Tams added that Berlin continues to provide humanitarian support to the Palestinians “every day under extremely difficult conditions, collaborating constructively with international partners.”
The Nicaragua case is the latest legal attempt to stop Israel’s offensive by a country with historic ties to the Palestinian people, after South Africa accused Israel of genocide in the same court late last year. It also comes amid growing calls for Israel’s allies to stop supplying the country with weapons, and as some supporters, including Germany, have become more critical of the conflict.
Speaking in Berlin, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told reporters that “from the first day after October 7, Germany has faced the incredible dilemma that Hamas deliberately barricaded itself behind civilians, deliberately used the human suffering of the Palestinians and the Palestinians in Gaza to expand their attack on Israel.”
Echoing comments from German lawyers in court, Baerbock added that Germany is committed to international law, including the right to self-defense.
“This means that Israel has the right to defend itself, like all countries in the world, against these terrorist attacks that continue to be carried out with the aim of destroying Israel as a state,” he said.
In Monday’s hearings, Nicaragua’s ambassador to the Netherlands, Carlos José Argüello Gómez, accused Germany of “failing to fulfill its own obligation to prevent genocide or ensure respect for international humanitarian law.”
However, another lawyer for Germany, Samuel Wordsworth, argued that the court could not rule that Germany was violating the obligation to prevent genocide because its judges have not ruled that Israel is violating the Genocide Convention.
In a preliminary phase of the case brought late last year by South Africa, the UN court said it is “plausible” that Israel’s actions in Gaza could constitute violations of the convention.
“How can it be said that respect from a third State was not guaranteed, if non-compliance on the part of that third State is not demonstrated in the first place?” said Wordsworth.
The court will likely take weeks to issue its preliminary ruling and the Nicaragua case will likely drag on for years.
Israel strongly denies that its attack constitutes genocidal acts and says it is acting in self-defense after Hamas-led militants swept into southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people.
Since then, more than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. His report does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but he has said that women and children make up the majority of the dead.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Germany is second only to the United States in supplying weapons to Israel, but it would be more difficult, if not impossible, for the United States to appear in court because Washington does not recognize the power of the ICJ to compel countries to appear before it. The United States has also not signed a protocol to the Genocide Convention that allows countries to take disputes to court.
Associated Press writer Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed to this report.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
