THE HAGUE, Friday, April 26, 2024 (WAFA) – The International Court of Justice (ICJ) today announced that it would rule Tuesday on a case accusing Germany of facilitating genocide in Israel’s months-long offensive on the blockaded Gaza Strip.
“On Tuesday 30 April 2024, the International Court of Justice will deliver its Order on the Request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by Nicaragua in the case concerning Alleged Breaches of Certain International Obligations in respect of the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the court said in a statement.
According to the statement, a public sitting will occur at 3 p.m. (1300GMT) at the Peace Palace in The Hague, during which Judge Nawaf Salam, the court’s head, will read out its ruling.
The Central American nation accuses Berlin of violating its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention and other “intransgressible principles of international humanitarian law,” including the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Nicaragua argues that “each and every” party to the Genocide Convention has a duty “to do everything possible to prevent the commission of genocide” and that since October 2023 there has been “a recognized risk of genocide against the Palestinian people, directed first of all against the population of the Gaza Strip.”
By sending vast quantities of military equipment to Israel and defunding UNRWA, the UN agency that provides essential humanitarian support to the population of Gaza, Nicaragua charges that “Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide and, in any case has failed in its obligation to do everything possible to prevent the commission of genocide.”
According to German government-funded media, Berlin “is one of the largest arms exporters to Israel” alongside the United States.
Nicaragua is asking the court to issue immediate provisional measures ordering Germany to end its “participation in the ongoing plausible genocide and serious breaches of international humanitarian law” in the Gaza Strip.
This would include suspending military aid to Israel and ensuring that already delivered German weapons are not used to commit genocide. Nicaragua also asked the court to require that Germany comply with international humanitarian law, and resume its funding to UNRWA.
The hearings will come after the ICJ in January ordered Israel to halt all potentially genocidal acts – including any killing of Palestinians – pending its consideration of South Africa’s genocide case against Israel.
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 