Germany challenges ICJ claims it’s aiding Gaza genocide by arming ‘Israel’

Germany is challenging claims at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that it is facilitating genocide in Gaza through arms and other support to ‘Israel’, as four days of hearings on its preliminary objections begin in The Hague.

Nicaragua filed the case against Germany in March 2024, accusing Berlin of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention and international humanitarian law.

It argues that by providing political, financial and military support to ‘Israel’—and by earlier suspending funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)—“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” against Palestinians in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

The proceedings centre on Germany but indirectly target ‘Israel’s’ assault on Gaza.

‘Israel’ is not a party to the case and strongly denies that its actions constitute genocide.

Germany, long a staunch ally and ‘Israel’s’ second-largest arms supplier after the United States, rejects the accusations.

In earlier hearings, the head of Germany’s legal team, Tania von Uslar-Gleichen, told judges that Nicaragua’s claims “have no basis in fact or law.”

Berlin has also described the case as “grossly biased.”

In April 2024 the ICJ rejected Nicaragua’s request for provisional measures that would have forced Germany to halt military aid and related support, finding that the circumstances did not require such orders.

The court declined to dismiss the case entirely, however.

Germany later filed preliminary objections in October 2025 to the court’s jurisdiction and the admissibility of certain claims, suspending proceedings on the merits.

Hearings on those objections run from September 7 to 10, 2026, with Germany presenting first.

Germany maintains that its arms exports to Israel undergo “detailed scrutiny… that far exceeds the requirements of international law.”

Export licences for military goods to ‘Israel’ after October 2023 have totalled hundreds of millions of euros and included components for vehicles, ammunition and other equipment, though Berlin has at times restricted items that could be used in Gaza before later adjusting those limits.

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

The case is distinct from South Africa’s parallel ICJ proceedings accusing ‘Israel’ itself of genocide, which ‘Israel’ also rejects.

Germany initially planned to intervene in support of ‘Israel’ in that case but later withdrew, citing its own need to focus on the Nicaragua proceedings.

The ICJ could uphold Germany’s objections and dismiss the case or reject them and allow it to proceed to the merits.

A ruling timeline has not been announced.