\n<\/p>\n
Nicaragua, a longstanding supporter of the Palestinian cause, is broadening the legal battle over the Gaza conflict at the International Court of Justice by bringing a case against Germany, a major supplier of arms to Israel.<\/p>\n
In hearings that opened on Monday at The Hague, Nicaragua argued that Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide in Gaza and violating the Genocide Convention by providing Israel with military and financial aid. Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez, Nicaragua\u2019s ambassador to The Netherlands, told the court that \u201cit does not matter if an artillery shell is delivered straight from Germany to an Israeli tank shelling a hospital\u201d or goes to replenish Israel\u2019s stockpiles.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact is that the assurance of supplies and replacement of armaments is crucial to Israel\u2019s pursuit of the attacks in Gaza,\u201d he told the court, saying that Germany is aware of \u201cthe serious risk of genocide being committed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nicaragua asked the court to issue emergency orders, saying that as a party to the Genocide Convention, Germany must immediately suspend military aid to Israel and ensure that its supplies already in the country are not unlawfully used.<\/p>\n
A spokeswoman for the German chancellery, Christine Hoffman, told journalists last week that the government rejected Nicaragua\u2019s accusations. Germany is expected to respond to the case on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
Nicaragua\u2019s government is itself facing sanctions for repressive policies at home<\/a>. A United Nations special report in February<\/a> said that the government\u2019s numerous abuses, including the jailing and deportation of opposition figures as well as Roman Catholic clerics, were \u201ctantamount to crimes against humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n The case brought by Nicaragua on Monday at The Hague raises new questions about the liability of countries that have supplied weapons to Israel for the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n Lawyers say that Germany \u2014 Israel\u2019s second-largest arms provider, after the United States \u2014 is an easier target for a suit than is the United States. Germany has granted full jurisdiction to the International Court of Justice, the United Nations\u2019 highest court. But the United States denies its jurisdiction, except in cases where Washington explicitly gives its consent.<\/p>\n Nicaragua\u2019s case is the third before the court this year that deals with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.<\/p>\n South Africa first sought emergency measures from the court, arguing that Israel was at risk of committing genocide, an assertion that the court found plausible but that Israel has strongly denied. The court ordered Israel to ensure that its citizens and soldiers do not violate the Genocide Convention, which Israel has signed. The convention forbids actions intended to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.<\/p>\n South Africa has also petitioned the court about hunger in Gaza and obtained a new ruling<\/a> ordering Israel to permit delivery of food, water and other vital supplies \u201cwithout delay.\u201d Despite the court\u2019s authority, it does not have any means of forcing Israel to comply with its orders. Israel has strongly denied accusations of deliberate starvation in Gaza.<\/p>\n In February, the court also took up a case requested by the United Nations General Assembly on the legality of Israel\u2019s occupation of Palestinian territories<\/a>. Those hearings, planned long before the war, heard from more than 50 countries, most of which vented anger and frustration at Israel\u2019s attacks on Gaza and the worsening death toll among civilians.<\/p>\n The Nicaraguan case is far broader in scope than South Africa\u2019s, invoking both violations of the Geneva Conventions and the convention against genocide and requiring the protection of civilians. It also accuses Israel of other \u201cunlawful\u201d conduct in the occupied territories.<\/p>\n The court has not yet accepted the case, but it is obliged to react quickly to requests for emergency measures, as in this case.<\/p>\n Israel, which is not a party to the dispute between Nicaragua and Germany, will not appear before the court in the hearings this week, which are expected to last two days.<\/p>\n