A demonstrator poses with a Palestinian flag outside the ICC during a rally urging the court to prosecute the IDF for war crimes in The Hague, Netherlands, Nov. 29, 2019. (AP/Peter Dejong)
German FM: ‘Germany has breached neither the genocide convention nor international humanitarian law.’
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague is preparing for hearings on a claim brought by Nicaragua arguing that Germany is facilitating “genocide” in the Gaza Strip by providing military and other aid to Israel amid its war against Hamas.
The accusation is that Israel’s military operations in Gaza violate the Genocide Convention, and that any aid or support for Israel makes Germany complicit in alleged war crimes.
Nicaragua’s ambassador to the Netherlands Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez said on Monday, “There can be no question that Germany … was well aware, and is well aware, of at least the serious risk of genocide being committed” in the Gaza Strip.”
He added, “Germany is failing to honor its own obligation to prevent genocide or to ensure respect of international humanitarian law,” he added.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry claims that 33,000 people have died in the coastal enclave since Israel began fighting against Hamas on October 7th, but there has been no independent verification of these numbers, nor distinction made between terrorists and non-combatants.
Concerning the hearings, Germany’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer said, “We are calm and we will set out our legal position in court.”
He added, “We reject Nicaragua’s accusations,” Fischer told reporters in Berlin.
“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,” he concluded.
Nicaragua asked the court to issue preliminary measures, including requiring 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.”
The case is similar to that brought by South Africa at the ICC against Israel earlier in the war.
“The case next week in The Hague will likely further galvanize opposition to any support for Israel,” said Mary Ellen O’Connell, a professor of law and international peace studies at the University of Notre Dame.
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