'Pathetic': Nicaragua drags Germany to ICJ over Gaza aid, weapons to Israel

Nicaragua and Germany have crossed swords at the UN's top court, with Managua saying Berlin was "pathetic" to supply aid to Palestinians in Gaza while also providing Israel with weapons, a case the top German lawyer dismissed as "grossly biased".

Nicaragua has hauled Germany before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to demand judges impose emergency measures to stop Berlin from providing Israel with weapons and other assistance.

Lawyers for Nicaragua on Monday argued Germany was in breach of the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention, set up in the wake of the Holocaust, by furnishing Israel with weapons.

"It is indeed a pathetic excuse to the Palestinian children, women and men to provide humanitarian aid, including through airdrops, on the one hand, and to furnish the military equipment that is used to kill and annihilate them on the other hand," Daniel Mueller, a lawyer for Nicaragua, told the court.

Nicaragua's ambassador to the Netherlands, Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez, told the court: "Germany seems not to be able to differentiate between self-defence and genocide."

Nicaragua asked the ICJ to decide on "provisional measures" and emergency orders imposed while the court considers the broader case.

"Germany was and is fully conscious of the risk that the arms it has furnished and continues to furnish to Israel" could be used to commit genocide, said Alain Pellet, a lawyer for Nicaragua.

"It is extremely urgent that Germany finally suspend" such aid, he added.

Germany will respond fully in court on Tuesday but has already hit back at the allegations.

Its top lawyer, Tania von Uslar-Gleichen, said Nicaragua's case was "grossly biased".

"Germany completely rejects the accusations. We never did violate the Genocide Convention nor international humanitarian law either directly or indirectly," she told reporters.

"On the contrary, Germany is committed to the upholding of international law and this is what we work for internationally."

'Violation of international law'

The ICJ was set up to rule in disputes between nations and has become a key player in Israel's war on Gaza.

Nicaragua has requested five provisional measures, including that Germany "immediately suspend its aid to Israel, in particular its military assistance including military equipment".

It also calls on the court to order Germany to "reverse its decision to suspend the funding of UNRWA".

Germany said in January it was halting funding pending an investigation into Israeli accusations that several staff at the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees took part in the October 7 attack.

"This unjustified decision contributes to the suffering in Gaza where children women and men are starving," Mueller told the court.

Nicaragua said in its submission that "it could be comprehensible" that Germany would support an "appropriate reaction" by ally Israel to the October 7 attack.

"But this cannot be an excuse for acting in violation of international law," it said.

Mueller explained that Nicaragua was going after Germany instead of Israel's main ally, the United States because Washington does not recognise the court's jurisdiction.

On Friday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Israel had "no more excuse" to delay aid getting into Gaza.