Germany denies aiding genocide in Gaza

Germany denied on Tuesday that it was aiding genocide in the Gaza Strip by selling weapons to Israel in a lawsuit filed by Nicaragua before the International Court of Justice, the United Nations' highest court.

Germany has been one of Israel's strongest allies since the October 7 attacks launched by Hamas fighters...and the ensuing attack on the Gaza Strip. It is one of the largest arms suppliers to Israel, sending military equipment and weapons worth €326.5 million ($353.70 million) in 2023, according to Economy Ministry data.

Germany and other Western countries are facing street protests, various legal cases and accusations of hypocrisy from campaign groups that say Israel has killed too many Palestinian civilians in its six-month military offensive.

But lawyer Tanja von Oslar-Gleichen, commissioner for international law at the German Foreign Ministry, told ICJ judges that Nicaragua's case was hasty and based on flimsy evidence and should be rejected for lack of jurisdiction.

She added that arms exports are examined to ensure compliance with international law.

She continued, saying, "Germany is making every effort to fulfill its responsibility towards the Israeli and Palestinian peoples," as Germany is the largest individual donor of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.

Von Oslar-Gleichen said that Israel's security is a priority for Germany because of the history of the Nazi extermination of Jews in the Holocaust.

German lawyer Christian Thames told the court that since October 7, 98 per cent of arms exports to Israel are general equipment such as vests, helmets and binoculars. He added that out of four cases in which the export of military weapons was approved, three were related to weapons unfit for use in combat, such as training ammunition.

On Monday, Nicaraguan lawyers asked the International Court of Justice to order Germany to stop arms sales to Israel and resume funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) as emergency measures while the court prepared to hear the case.

They said Berlin violated the 1948 Genocide Convention and international humanitarian law by continuing to supply Israel even after it recognised the risk of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.