The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s highest court, yesterday refused to issue precautionary measures to stop the export of German arms to Israel, thus rejecting Nicaragua’s request, which accuses Germany of alleged complicity in genocide in Gaza for the supply of weapons. “Based on the factual information and the legal arguments presented by the parties, the court concludes that, for the time being, the circumstances are not such as to require the exercise of its power under Article 41 of the statute to indicate interim measures,” said Nawaf Salam, president of the ICJ.
Salam explained that the judges adopted this decision by 15 votes in favor and one against, and that the court, based in the (Netherlands), remains “deeply disturbed by the catastrophic living conditions of the Palestinians”. The ICJ emphasized that, as alleged by Germany, 98% of the arms export authorizations that have been granted since October – when the current war began – refer to other military equipment, and not weapons of war.
The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday celebrated the decision of the ICJ judges, although they did not accede to the German request to dismiss the case, so it will go ahead. According to Nicaragua, Germany would violate the Convention on Genocide, approved by the UN in 1948 and motivated by the Holocaust, since “when sending military equipment (…), Germany facilitates the commission of genocide” , says the text of the demand. The ICJ’s final ruling on the merits of the matter could take months or even years.
In any case, the judges of the Hague considered it “especially important to remind all states” of their international obligations regarding the transfer of weapons to the parties involved in an armed conflict, to “avoid the risk that the weapons could be used to violate the Geneva Convention or the Convention against Genocide”. “All these obligations fall on Germany, as a State party to the conventions, in the supply of weapons to Israel”, warned the judges.
Germany has been one of Israel’s staunchest allies since the October 7 Hamas terror attack and subsequent Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip, which has claimed thousands of Palestinian lives, most of them civilians.
According to the Ministry of Economy, Berlin sent to Israel in 2023 military equipment worth 326.5 million euros, ten times more than the previous year, when they were 32 million euros. On the other hand, Germany is the single most important donor of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.
In the Gaza Strip, a devastating war has been fought between Israel and Hamas since October 7, 2023. The attack by Hamas that day ended with the death of 1,170 Israelis, mostly civilians, and the kidnapping of more of 250 people, of whom 129 remain detained in Gaza and 34 have died, according to the official Israeli count. The Israeli military response has so far left 33,207 dead, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry.
Tania von Uslar-Gleichen, legal adviser to the German Foreign Ministry, had assured the ICJ on April 9 – the day of the hearing for the German allegations – that arms exports were screened to ensure compliance of international law. For his part, Nicaragua’s lawyer, Alain Pellet, had said before the court on April 8 – the day of the Nicaraguan allegations – that “Germany was and is fully aware of the risk that the weapons it handed over and continue to deliver to Israel” contribute to committing genocide.
This is the second genocide case before the ICJ related to the Gaza war. In late 2023, South Africa accused Israel of genocide against the Palestinian people and demanded a ceasefire. The UN court did not uphold the lawsuit, but it did order Israel to allow more humanitarian aid and do everything possible to prevent acts of genocide. Recently, the ICJ has raised the tone and demanded that Israel expand access to humanitarian aid.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government says its war is against murderous Hamas militants, not Palestinian civilians, and that Israel is the victim of a global smear campaign.
