Germany denies accusation of aiding genocide in Gaza at World Court
Germany denied accusations yesterday that it was aiding genocide in Gaza by selling Israel arms in a suit to the top UN court by Nicaragua reflecting mounting legal action in support of Palestinians.
Germany has been one of Israel’s staunchest allies since the October 7 attacks by Hamas militants and the retaliatory offensive. It is one of its biggest military suppliers, sending €326.5m in equipment and weapons last year, according to economy ministry data.
Germany and other Western nations have faced street protests, various legal cases and accusations of hypocrisy from campaign groups who say Israel has killed too many Palestinian civilians in its six-month assault.
But Tania von Uslar-Gleichen, legal adviser for Germany’s foreign ministry, told the International Court of Justice, or World Court, Nicaragua’s case was rushed, based on flimsy evidence and should be thrown out for lack of jurisdiction. Arms exports were scrutinised for adherence to international law, she said.
“Germany is doing its utmost to live up to its responsibility vis-a-vis both the Israeli and the Palestinian people,” she added, with Germany the largest individual donor of humanitarian aid to Palestinians.
Ms Von Uslar-Gleichen said Israel’s security was a priority for Germany given the history of the Holocaust.
“Germany has learned from its past, a past that includes the responsibility for one of the most horrific crimes in human history, the Shoah,” she said, using the Hebrew word.
A lawyer for Germany, Christian Tams, told the court that since October 7, 98pc of arms exports to Israel were general equipment like vests, helmets and binoculars. And of four cases where war weapons exports were approved, he said, three concerned arms unsuitable for use in combat and meant for training.
Lawyers for Nicaragua have asked the ICJ to order Germany to halt arms sales to Israel and resume funding of UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA.
They argued Berlin has violated the 1948 Genocide Convention and international law by supplying Israel while aware there was a risk of genocide.
After yesterday’s hearing, Nicaraguan ambassador Carlos Arguello told journalists the case at this early stage did not hinge on the amount of Germany’s military aid but simply its existence.
The Islamist group’s October 7 attacks killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s Gaza offensive since then, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave.
An ICJ ruling on Nicaragua’s requested emergency measures is expected in weeks. A final judgment on the merits of the case usually takes years and the court has no power to enforce it.
In January, in response to an accusation from South Africa, the ICJ ruled that claims Israel violated some rights guaranteed under the genocide convention were plausible and called for a halt to any potential acts of genocide.