International Court of Justice to hear Nicaragua's claim on Monday: Germany accused of aiding Israel's 'genocide' in Gaza

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The International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague is set to hold preliminary hearings on Monday on the case filed by Nicaragua against Germany, alleging 'genocide,' a claim officially lodged on March 1.

Nicaragua claims that Germany is “facilitating the commission of genocide” by offering political, financial and military support to Israel and by defunding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

“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,” Nicaragua asserted.

The Central American country has asked the ICJ to order Germany to “immediately suspend its aid to Israel, in particular, its military assistance including military equipment in so far as this aid may be used in the violation of the Genocide Convention” and international law.

German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer rejected Nicaragua’s claims on behalf of his nation.

“We are calm and we will set out our legal position in court,” Fischer told reporters in Berlin on Friday.

“We reject Nicaragua’s accusations. Germany has breached neither the genocide convention nor international humanitarian law, and we will set this out in detail before the International Court of Justice.”

The court could likely take weeks to deliver its preliminary decision and the actual case could take years.

In January, Israel defended itself against South Africa’s accusation of “genocide” at the ICJ, which ultimately did not order Israel to stop its military operations in Gaza, but criticized it.

At the time of the trial in January, the German government announced its intention to defend the Jewish state against the “genocide” charges.

Germany emphasized that Israel's war against Hamas is exercising its legitimate right to self-defense against the terrorists, who invaded southern border communities on Oct. 7, slaughtered more than 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped around 250 Israelis and foreign nationals.

"On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists brutally attacked, tortured, killed and kidnapped innocent people in Israel,” the official Berlin statement read. “Hamas's goal is to wipe out Israel. Since then, Israel has been defending itself against the inhumane attack by Hamas."

The ICJ case against Germany comes at a time when calls for halting arms supplies to Israel are increasing. Canada imposed an arms embargo last month, which is symbolic, however, as Canada does not currently sell any arms to Israel.

In February, the European Union’s Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell publicly called on allies of Israel, and especially the United States, to end weapons sales to Israel.

On Friday, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) voted 28-5 to implement an arms embargo against Israel.

The UNHCR resolution urged nations to halt “the export, sale or transfer of surveillance goods and technologies and less-lethal weapons, including dual-use times, when they assess that there are reasonable grounds to suspect that such goods.. might be used to violate .. human rights.”

In addition, more than 600 lawyers, academics and retired senior judges in Britain, including the former president of the British Supreme Court, have recommended that the UK government stop selling arms to Israel. The move was lambasted by former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday.

“If you want an example of the death wish of Western civilisation, I give you the current proposal from members of the British establishment that this country should ban arms sales to Israel,” Johnson wrote in his Daily Mail column.

“If you want evidence of government madness, it appears that Foreign Office lawyers are busily canvassing the idea — which has not, as far as I can tell, yet been rejected by the Foreign Secretary [David Cameron] himself,” he added.