Germany on Monday asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to dismiss a case brought by Nicaragua, accusing Berlin of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention by supplying arms to Israel amid its war with Hamas in Gaza. If the ICJ, otherwise known as the World Court, decided to hear the case, the process would likely take years and be contingent on the findings from separate Gaza-related cases in The Hague. But Germany is arguing it shouldn't even go that far, saying that Nicaragua did not follow proper processes and that the dispute does not fall in the international court's jurisdiction.
Nicaragua, on the other hand, argues that the case should be heard because it and Germany are both signatories to the Genocide Convention — despite neither side being directly involved in Israel and Hamas' war in Gaza and although the ICJ hearing on whether Israel committed genocidal acts in Gaza could take years. Nicaragua accuses Germany of aiding and abetting genocide in Gaza by selling weapons to Israel, some of which it says have been used in Gaza. An initial bid for an emergency injunction ordering a halt to exports failed in 2024 at the height of the war in Gaza, but Germany also failed in its bid to have the case summarily and permanently dismissed at the earliest opportunity.
The German government suspended weapons exports to Israel for around three months in 2025 as the conflict continued and casualty figures rose. But it has since restarted them amid the truce struck late last year that largely stopped the fighting, without ending Israeli strikes entirely. Germany walks a fine historical and political line in the case.
On the one hand, the 1948 Genocide Convention was born in very large part from the lessons of the Holocaust and the spirit of "never again" after World War II. But to the same token, Germany has always sought to maintain close and cooperative ties with Israel, a state formed in very large part as a consequence of its mass extermination of Jews in Europe. It considers Israeli security part of its own raison d'etre as a modern democratic state.
Israel's war in Gaza was launched against Hamas after Hamas carried out the October 7, 2023 terror attacks on Israel. October 7 was the single deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. Hamas is a Palestinian Islamist group based in the Gaza Strip.
Germany is arguing both that the case should be dismissed on procedural grounds, and that Nicaragua's allegation of aiding and abetting genocide is unsubstantiated. Although Germany, Nicaragua and Israel are all signatories to the Genocide Convention, a case like this where neither side is a direct party to a conflict is unusual. Its represenatives told the court that Nicaragua had not taken the proper steps before filing the legal challenge and arguing much of the case falls out of the ICJ's jurisdiction.
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