Germany is facilitating Israeli 'genocide' in Gaza, Nicaragua tells ICJ

Nicaragua has accused Germany of facilitating "genocide" in besieged Gaza in a case started in the International Court of Justice [ICJ], by giving support to Israel and suspending funding of the UN Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA.

"By sending military equipment and now defunding UNRWA, which provides essential support to the civilian population, Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide," Nicaragua said in its legal filings on Friday.

According to Nicaragua's argument, Germany is violating the 1948 Genocide Convention and the 1949 Geneva Conventions on the laws of war in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Nicaragua's filing adds that emergency measures were needed because of Berlin's "participation in the ongoing plausible genocide and serious breaches of international humanitarian law" in besieged Gaza.

Nicaragua was asking the court to take a swift interim stance against Germany before judges gave the case an in-depth study.

The lodging of the case follows the ICJ order on January 26 that Israel must do everything to prevent genocidal acts in the blockaded enclave and take "immediate" measures for aid provisions.

That interim order was given as the court moves to weigh in full a case lodged in December by South Africa alleging that Israel was engaged in genocide in Gaza.

Israel has dismissed South Africa's case as a "grossly distorted story".

ICJ rulings are legally binding, but the court has no enforcement mechanism. Rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch this week said Israel is disregarding the ICJ's interim order by limiting humanitarian aid to Gaza.

UNRWA funding

Accusations from Israel that staff from UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, took part in the October 7 Hamas surprise blitz prompted several countries, including Germany, Britain, Japan and the United States, to suspend their funding.

On Friday, the European Commission emphasised that it was maintaining its funding of UNRWA while reviewing arrangements in light of the Israeli allegation.

The commission said it was releasing $54 million to the UN agency next week, with a further $34 million to follow later.

Israel's war on Gaza — now in its 148th day — has left at least 30,228 Palestinians dead, mostly children and women, and wounded 71,377 others, as famine looms in the coastal enclave of 2.3 million besieged people.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the tiny Palestinian-blockaded enclave, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

Gaza officials say 10 children have died of "malnutrition and dehydration", adding some people have resorted to eating animal feed and even cactuses to survive.

The Israeli war has pushed 85 percent of Gaza's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60 percent of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.