Germany's Director General of Legal Affairs Tania von Uslar-Gleichen (L) attends a hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a case filed by Nicaragua against Germany demanding judges impose emergency measures to stop Berlin from providing Israel with weapons and other assistance, in the Hague on April 8, 2024. (Credit: Robin van Lonkhuijsen/ANP/AFP)
Israel's security is at the "core" of German foreign policy, the UN's highest court heard on Tuesday, where Berlin has denied a claim that it is aiding in a "genocide" in Gaza.
Nicaragua has brought Germany before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to demand that judges impose emergency measures to stop Berlin from providing Israel with "weapons and other assistance."
"Our history is the reason why Israel's security has been at the core of German foreign policy," Germany's representative told the court in The Hague.
"Where Germany has provided support to Israel, including in a form of export of arms and other military equipment, the quantity and purposes of these supplies have been grossly distorted by Nicaragua," Tania von Uslar-Gleichen said.
Lawyers for Nicaragua argued that Germany is in breach of the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention, set up in the wake of the Holocaust, by furnishing Israel with weapons.
On Monday, Nicaragua's lawyers called Berlin "pathetic" for supplying Israel with weapons and at the same time giving humanitarian aid to Palestinians.
Nicaragua asked the ICJ to issue "provisional measures," the emergency orders that can be imposed while the court considers the broader case.
Germany had already said after Monday's hearing that it "completely rejected" Managua's claims.
'Accusations fall apart'
On Tuesday, Berlin's representatives insisted that Germany supplied arms only "on the basis of detailed scrutiny... that far exceeds the requirements of international law."
"Nicaragua's references yesterday referring to artillery shells or to munitions that would be used in Gaza simply bears no relation to reality. Germany rejects them," said Christian Tams, another representative for Germany.
"In regards to humanitarian assistance, Germany continues to provide humanitarian support [in Gaza] every single day under extremely difficult conditions," he told the judges.
"The moment we look closely, Nicaragua's accusations fall apart, said Tams, adding "Germany rebutted Nicaragua's accusation that Germany had turned its back on the Palestinians."
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," the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees.
Germany said in January that it was halting funding pending an investigation into Israeli accusations that several UNRWA staff took part in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
Tams said that Germany has since resumed funding for UNRWA operations, a fact "ignored by Nicaragua."
'Violation of law'
Speaking after Tuesday's hearings, Nicaragua's representative Carlos Jose Francisco Arguello Gomez said Berlin's submission "has not changed Nicaragua's stance."
"Germany is making its position absolutely clear that they are backing whatever Israel is doing ... Nicaragua has its position that that's a violation of international law," Arguello Gomez told journalists.
A ruling on the matter may take several weeks.
The ICJ was set up to rule in disputes between nations and has become a key player in the war between Israel and Hamas militants.
In a separate case, South Africa has accused Israel of perpetrating genocide in the Gaza Strip, charges Israel has angrily denied.
In that case, the court ordered Israel to do everything in its power to prevent genocidal acts and recently toughened its stance, ordering additional measures obliging Israel to step up access to humanitarian aid.
The court's rulings are binding but it lacks an enforcement mechanism. For example, it has ordered Russia to stop its invasion of Ukraine, to no avail.
The bloodiest-ever Gaza war began after Hamas's Oct. 7 attack in Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,170 Israelis and foreigners, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Palestinian militants also took around 250 hostages, about 130 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 the army says are dead.
In the past six months, Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 33,360 people, many of them women and children, according to the health ministry in Gaza.