Nicaragua, a longstanding supporter of the Palestinian cause, is broadening
the legal battle over the Gaza conflict at the International Court of Justice by bringing a case against Germany, a major supplier of arms to Israel.

Nicaragua is arguing in its filing that “Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide” in Gaza and violating the Genocide Convention by providing Israel with military and financial aid. It asks for emergency measures ordering Berlin to halt its wartime support to Israel.

In hearings opening on Monday at the court in The Hague, Nicaragua is also expected to assert that Germany is enabling grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions by Israel, in particular the obligation to protect civilians during armed conflict.

Supporting Israel is seen as a historic duty in Germany in light of the Holocaust, but the mounting toll in Gaza has pushed some German officials to ask whether that backing has gone too far.

The case brought by Nicaragua raises new questions about the liability of countries that have supplied weapons to Israel for the war in Gaza.

Lawyers say that Germany — Israel’s second-largest arms provider, after the US — is an easier target for a suit than is the US. Germany has granted full jurisdiction to the International Court of Justice, the United Nations’ highest court. But the US denies its jurisdiction, except in cases where Washington explicitly gives its consent.

Nicaragua’s case is the third before the court this year that deals with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

South Africa first sought emergency measures from the court, arguing that
Israel was at risk of committing genocide, an assertion that the court found plausible but that Israel has strongly denied. The court ordered Israel to ensure that its citizens and soldiers do not violate the Genocide Convention, which Israel has signed. The convention forbids actions intended to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.

New York Times News Service