The Hague – On Monday, the International Court of Justice begins hearings on accusing Germany of “facilitating the commission of genocide” against the Palestinians during the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip for 6 months.
The court said on its website that it will hold public hearings on Monday and Tuesday regarding the request for temporary measures submitted by Nicaragua against Germany on March 1.
Nicaragua will present the 43-page lawsuit on Monday, while the next day Germany will respond before the court, the highest judicial body in the United Nations.
Nicaragua said in the lawsuit that Germany is violating the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide signed in 1948, in the wake of the “Nazi Holocaust.”
She continued, “Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide by sending military equipment (to Israel) and stopping funding for the United Nations Relief Agency for Palestinian Refugees.”
Nicaragua calls on the judges of the court (headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands) to impose “temporary measures” to push Germany to stop providing all forms of support to Israel, including weapons.
She stressed that issuing these measures is “necessary and urgent” to protect the lives of “hundreds of thousands of people.”
“Temporary measures” are emergency orders imposed by the court until the case is considered more broadly.
On the other hand, German Foreign Ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer told reporters ahead of the hearings: “We reject Nicaragua’s accusations.”
He considered that “Germany did not violate the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide nor international humanitarian law.”
The International Court of Justice has now had a noticeable presence in the war on Gaza, as South Africa, in a separate case before the court, accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza.
The court ordered Israel to take the necessary measures to prevent acts of genocide, and recently strengthened its position by demanding additional measures obligating Tel Aviv to enhance the possibility of delivering humanitarian aid to the Palestinian Strip, which has been under siege for 17 years.
Although the court’s decisions are binding, it has no mechanism to enforce them.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza, leaving more than one hundred thousand dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of children and the elderly, according to Palestinian and UN data.
Israel continues the war despite the issuance of interim measures by the International Court of Justice, as well as despite the UN Security Council later issuing an immediate ceasefire resolution.
Anatolia
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2024-04-09 14:28:34