Germany demands ICJ throw out case claiming it aids Gaza genocide

The German government has called on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to throw out a case brought by Nicaragua, which claims the federal republic violated the Genocide Convention by supplying arms to Israel.

German gov’t calls on ICJ to throw out Nicaragua case

Berlin has called on the International Court of Justice in The Hague to dismiss a case brought by Nicaragua, which accuses Germany of breaking the 1948 Genocide Convention. The convention, of which both Germany and Nicaragua are signatories, obliges states to act to prevent possible genocides. 

Nicaragua brought its case to the ICJ in March 2024 and argues that the German government knew about "violations being committed by Israel from the moment of their first occurrence" and Israeli plans to “target the civilian population”, but has continued to export weapons to Israel.

Germany now claims that Nicaragua did not take proper steps before filing the case and that the claim falls outside of the jurisdiction it has under the Genocide Convention. “Germany respectfully requests the court to reject Nicaragua's claims," the German Foreign Ministry’s legal adviser Julia Monar told the ICJ on Monday, according to Reuters.

On September 8, legal representatives for Nicaragua, which ended diplomatic relations with Israel in 2024, will appear before the ICJ to argue why the case should proceed. The court is then expected to rule on the jurisdiction claim by the end of the year. If the case goes ahead, it could still take several years to reach a verdict.

Nicaragua’s case against Germany is based on South Africa’s ongoing ICJ case, which claims Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians living in Gaza.

A 2024 interim ICJ ruling found South Africa’s claim “plausible”. The Israeli government opposes the case and cites its right to self-defence prompted by Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023. 

An ICJ ruling on this broader case is not expected until 2029. Once issued, ICJ rulings are final and not subject to appeal.

Germany issued unusual criticism of Israeli policy

Germany’s call for the ICJ case to be thrown out comes shortly after the CDU/CSU-SPD government in Berlin issued unusual criticism of the Israeli government.

In late August, foreign policy spokesperson for the CDU/CSU, Jürgen Hardt, called on the European Union to sanction Israeli Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for his “inhumane” appeal to kill 30 to 40 Palestinians nightly.

Speaking on the October 8 podcast, Israel’s national security minister called for “targeted killings” of Palestinian civilians to be carried out in Gaza to “remove 30, 40 [people] every night. Not just those who pose an immediate threat. No, there are people there who are not worthy of life. They shouldn’t live. They’re not even people.”

Hardt added that expelling Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has previously called for Gaza to be “entirely destroyed”, from government would likely bring European governments and the Israeli government closer together.

In mid-August, former German ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, also clarified that while Israel’s security is part of Germany’s reason of state, the support “does not apply to settlers in the Jordan Valley”.

Speaking to DIE ZEIT, Seibert called the Israeli government’s settlement projects in Palestine’s occupied West Bank “displacement through psychological and physical violence" and called on the current coalition to clarify what is meant by “standing by Israel”.

“Under international law, these are illegal settlements driven by the ideology that this land belongs solely to us - that God gave it to us,” Seibert told the newspaper. "The concept of “reason of state” does not extend to that; it does not support a sense of superiority over another population”.