Germany Fights Gaza Genocide Case at UN Court
Germany Fights Gaza Genocide Case at UN Court
The News
Germany goes before the United Nations' top court on Monday to fight Nicaragua's claim that Berlin is "facilitating" genocide in Gaza by supplying arms and other military support to Israel.
Monday's hearing at the International Court of Justice in The Hague is not about the merits. It deals with questions Germany raised over whether the court has jurisdiction over the case at all.
Nicaragua accuses Germany of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention and international humanitarian law. Israel is not a party to the proceedings and strongly denies its actions amount to genocide.
Why It Matters to Americans
Germany is the second-largest supplier of arms to Israel — after the United States. The legal theory Nicaragua is testing in The Hague is that arming a state accused of genocide makes the supplier complicit.
Timeline
Hamas launches its deadly attacks on Israel, triggering the Israeli campaign in Gaza that left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and devastated the enclave.
South Africa accuses Israel of genocide at the ICJ, the first of the cases seeking to rein in the campaign through the courts.
ICJ judges order Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza.
Two months later, the court tells Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including opening more land crossings for food, water and fuel.
The court rejects Nicaragua's emergency request to order Germany to halt military and other aid to Israel, but the 16-judge panel declines to throw the case out.
The court sets a November 2027 deadline for South Africa to file written pleadings and gives Israel until May 2029 to reply.
Germany argues the jurisdiction question in The Hague.
Reactions
Berlin flatly denies the allegations. Tania von Uslar-Gleichen, the head of Germany's legal team, told judges at an earlier hearing that Nicaragua's claims "have no basis in fact or law."
Germany has been a staunch supporter of Israel for decades. Last year it stopped authorizing exports of military equipment to Israel that could be used in Gaza, then lifted those restrictions.
A team of independent experts commissioned by the U.N. Human Rights Council and the largest professional organization of genocide scholars have both concluded that Israel is violating the Genocide Convention. Only an international court can make a binding legal determination.
South Africa says Israel largely ignored the ICJ's 2024 orders.
What's Next
The judges must first decide whether they have jurisdiction over Nicaragua's case before anyone argues the substance of it.
Nothing here moves quickly. In the parallel South Africa case, hearings on the core question — whether Israel committed genocide in Gaza — likely won't be heard until late 2029 at the earliest, given the November 2027 and May 2029 pleading deadlines.
Precedent for that pace: in 2007 the court ruled that Serbia "violated the obligation to prevent genocide" in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, in which Bosnian Serb forces murdered some 8,000 mostly Muslim men and boys.
More
A ceasefire brokered by the United States last year remains fragile. Since it was announced, Israeli fire has killed more than 1,300 Palestinians in Gaza, and five Israeli soldiers have been killed.
In separate proceedings at the International Criminal Court — which tries individuals rather than states — judges have issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The charges are crimes against humanity, not genocide: the court said there was reason to believe they used "starvation as a method of warfare" by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeted civilians. Israeli officials deny the charges.
The United States responded by sanctioning many senior ICC staff, including nine of the court's 18 judges.
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