Top UN court rejects Nicaragua’s call to block German support for Israel

Judges at the International Court of Justice have rejected a call for sweeping interim legal restrictions on German support for Israel, in a case brought by Nicaragua that accuses Berlin of “facilitating genocide” in Gaza.

In a ruling on Tuesday in The Hague, the UN’s top court said the Nicaraguan government’s request that German military and financial support for Israel should be immediately blocked — pending an investigation into allegations it has made over breaches of international law — was not at present justified.

The authoritarian government of Nicaragua, which has long-standing ties with the Palestinian liberation movement, filed the case earlier this month.

A panel of ICJ judges ruled 15-1 that there were at present no grounds for precautionary restrictions to be placed on Germany ahead of any final ruling over the nature of Berlin’s support for Israel, which may take years.

“Based on the factual information and legal arguments presented by the parties, the court concludes that, as present, the circumstances are not such as to require the exercise of its power . . . to indicate provisional measures,” said Nawaf Salam, the court’s president.

At the same time, the court rejected an application by Germany for the case to be thrown out altogether.

“[The ICJ] remains deeply concerned about the catastrophic living conditions of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in particular in view of the prolonged and widespread deprivation of food and other basic necessities to which they have been subjected,” said Salam.

Germany’s legal team argued that the Nicaraguan application for emergency restrictions on its aid to Israel was inadmissible on a number of technical legal grounds.

Lawyers for the government also said Germany had not in fact delivered significant amounts of lethal military aid to Israel since its conflict in Gaza began.

The allegations follow an explosive January interim judgment by the ICJ, in a separate case brought by South Africa against Israel, that there were plausible grounds for a case of genocide to be heard.

Ahead of any final ruling in that case, which is likely to take years, the court ordered the Israeli government to comply with a series of restraining measures relating to its war in Gaza, launched in reprisal for Hamas’s devastating attack on Israel in October in which 1,200 people were killed, according to Israeli authorities.

Palestinian health officials say more than 34,000 people have died in Gaza since the Israeli offensive began, while the UN says 1.7mn have been displaced from their homes.

Israel denies it has committed acts of genocide and says its military operation is in full compliance with international law.

From the start of the conflict, Germany has emerged as one of Israel’s most vocal supporters. Citing its historic responsibility to defend the Jewish state in atonement for the crimes of the Holocaust, Germany has boosted aid as well as military and diplomatic support for Israel.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged in October to give Israel “whatever support is needed” and declared the country’s security to be tantamount to Germany’s own “raison d’etat”.

As the death toll in Gaza has risen, however, Berlin has become more equivocal. The government has forcefully stressed the need to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the strip, and has begun to publicly accuse Israel of hindering relief efforts.

Speaking in Riyadh on Monday following crisis negotiations with regional powers, foreign minister Annalena Baerbock reiterated calls for a ceasefire and said Germany was committed to an independent Palestinian state in the future.