Nicaragua has hauled Germany before the International Court of Justice to stop Berlin from providing Israel with weapons and other assistance.
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The ICJ in The Hague is scheduled to issue an order at 1300 GMT./ Photo: AA
The United Nations' top court will rule today on charges by Nicaragua that Germany is breaching the 1948 Genocide Convention by supplying arms to Israel for the Gaza war.
Nicaragua has hauled 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.
More than 34,000 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since Israel's war on Gaza broke out in October.
The ICJ in The Hague is scheduled to issue an order at 1300 GMT.
Nicaragua targeted Germany rather than Israel's main ally, the United States because Washington did not recognise the ICJ's jurisdiction in the case, Managua's lawyers have said.
They say Israel is in breach of the 1948 Genocide Convention.
'Arms to Israel'
Top lawyers from the two countries clashed earlier this month at the court, with Nicaragua saying Germany was "pathetic" to be both providing weapons to Israel and aid to Gazans.
Berlin retorted that Israel's security was at the "core" of its foreign policy and argued that Nicaragua had "grossly distorted" Germany's supply of military aid to Israel.
"Germany only supplies arms based on a meticulous scrutiny that far exceeds the demands of international law," said Tania von Uslar-Gleichen, a German representative to the ICJ.
Those supplies are "subject to a continuous evaluation of the situation on the ground", she added.
"The moment we look closely, Nicaragua's accusations fall apart," Christian Tams, another representative for Germany, told the court.
Nicaragua requested five emergency measures, including that Germany "immediately suspend its aid to Israel, in particular its military assistance including military equipment".
Even though ICJ decisions are binding, the court has no mechanism to enforce them.
Gaza hospital staff questioned by ICC war crimes prosecutors, sources say
Rescuers and medics search for dead bodies inside the damaged Al Shifa Hospital after Israeli forces withdrew from the hospital and the area around it following a two-week operation, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City April 8, 2024.
PUBLISHED APRIL 29, 2024
THE HAGUE — Prosecutors from the International Criminal Court have interviewed staff from Gaza's two biggest hospitals, two sources told Reuters, the first confirmation that ICC investigators were speaking to medics about possible crimes in the Gaza Strip.
The sources, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the subject, told Reuters ICC investigators had taken testimony from staff who had worked in the main hospital in Gaza City in the north of the enclave, Al Shifa, and the main hospital in Khan Younis in the south, Nasser.
The sources declined to provide more details, citing concerns about the safety of potential witnesses.
One of the sources said that events surrounding the hospitals could become part of the investigation by the ICC, which hears criminal cases against individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and aggression.
The ICC's office of the prosecutor refused to comment on operational matters in ongoing investigations citing the need to ensure the safety of victims and witnesses.
The ICC has said it is investigating both sides in the conflict, including both the Oct 7 attack by Hamas fighters on Israel and the subsequent Israeli offencive in Gaza.
During the conflict, the two main Gaza hospitals have both been high profile Israeli targets — surrounded, besieged and stormed by Israeli forces who accused Hamas militants of using them for military purposes, which Hamas and medical staff deny.
In recent days, Palestinian officials have also demanded investigations after hundreds of bodies were exhumed in mass graves at Nasser. The two sources were not able to say whether such graves formed part of any questioning.
Israel denies carrying out war crimes, including in or around Gaza hospitals, where it says all its military activities have been justified by the presence of Hamas fighters.
Hospitals are protected during wartime by international treaties, which can make attacks on them war crimes under the ICC, although they can lose this protection under some circumstances if they are used by combatants in a way that is harmful to the enemy.
The sources, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the subject, told Reuters ICC investigators had taken testimony from staff who had worked in the main hospital in Gaza City in the north of the enclave, Al Shifa, and the main hospital in Khan Younis in the south, Nasser.
The sources declined to provide more details, citing concerns about the safety of potential witnesses.
One of the sources said that events surrounding the hospitals could become part of the investigation by the ICC, which hears criminal cases against individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and aggression.
The ICC's office of the prosecutor refused to comment on operational matters in ongoing investigations citing the need to ensure the safety of victims and witnesses.
The ICC has said it is investigating both sides in the conflict, including both the Oct 7 attack by Hamas fighters on Israel and the subsequent Israeli offencive in Gaza.
During the conflict, the two main Gaza hospitals have both been high profile Israeli targets — surrounded, besieged and stormed by Israeli forces who accused Hamas militants of using them for military purposes, which Hamas and medical staff deny.
In recent days, Palestinian officials have also demanded investigations after hundreds of bodies were exhumed in mass graves at Nasser. The two sources were not able to say whether such graves formed part of any questioning.
Israel denies carrying out war crimes, including in or around Gaza hospitals, where it says all its military activities have been justified by the presence of Hamas fighters.
Hospitals are protected during wartime by international treaties, which can make attacks on them war crimes under the ICC, although they can lose this protection under some circumstances if they are used by combatants in a way that is harmful to the enemy.
A Palestinian woman reacts next to a wounded man at Nasser hospital following Israeli strikes, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Dec 9, 2023.
PHOTO: Reuters file
Israel is not a member of the ICC, while the Palestinian territories were admitted as a member state in 2015. The ICC says this gives it jurisdiction over actions by anyone including Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian territories, and by Palestinians anywhere, including on Israeli territory. Israel does not recognise any ICC jurisdiction over its citizens.
Any ICC criminal case would be separate from a case in the International Court of Justice, or World Court, which was brought by South Africa and accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza, which Israel denies. The ICJ, also based in the Hague, hears lawsuits between states, while the ICC hears criminal cases against individuals.
'Dangerous precedent'
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday any ICC move would not affect Israel's actions but would "set a dangerous precedent that threatens soldiers and public figures".
"Under my leadership, Israel will never accept any attempt by the International Criminal Court in the Hague to undermine its basic right to defend itself," he wrote on Telegram.
Hamas fighters attacked Israel on Oct 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing 253 hostages, by Israeli tallies. Israel responded with an assault that Palestinian health authorities say has killed at least 34,000 people, with thousands more bodies believed lost under the rubble.
In a sign the ICC's investigation into the Oct 7 attacks has been moving forward, Yael Vias Gvirsman, a lawyer representing some Israeli victims, said in February a handful of her clients had given testimony directly to ICC investigators.
PHOTO: Reuters file
Israel is not a member of the ICC, while the Palestinian territories were admitted as a member state in 2015. The ICC says this gives it jurisdiction over actions by anyone including Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian territories, and by Palestinians anywhere, including on Israeli territory. Israel does not recognise any ICC jurisdiction over its citizens.
Any ICC criminal case would be separate from a case in the International Court of Justice, or World Court, which was brought by South Africa and accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza, which Israel denies. The ICJ, also based in the Hague, hears lawsuits between states, while the ICC hears criminal cases against individuals.
'Dangerous precedent'
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday any ICC move would not affect Israel's actions but would "set a dangerous precedent that threatens soldiers and public figures".
"Under my leadership, Israel will never accept any attempt by the International Criminal Court in the Hague to undermine its basic right to defend itself," he wrote on Telegram.
Hamas fighters attacked Israel on Oct 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing 253 hostages, by Israeli tallies. Israel responded with an assault that Palestinian health authorities say has killed at least 34,000 people, with thousands more bodies believed lost under the rubble.
In a sign the ICC's investigation into the Oct 7 attacks has been moving forward, Yael Vias Gvirsman, a lawyer representing some Israeli victims, said in February a handful of her clients had given testimony directly to ICC investigators.
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