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Germany on Tuesday defended itself on the Worldwide Court docket of Justice towards accusations that its arms shipments to Israel had been furthering genocide in Gaza, arguing that a lot of the tools it has provided since Oct. 7 was nonlethal and that it has additionally been one of many largest donors of humanitarian assist to the Palestinians.
On the U.N. court docket in The Hague, legal professionals for Germany mentioned that the allegations introduced by Nicaragua had “no foundation in truth or legislation” and rested on an evaluation of navy conduct by Israel, which isn’t a celebration to the case.
“Germany firmly rejects Nicaragua’s accusations,” Tania von Uslar-Gleichen, an official at Germany’s Overseas Ministry and lead counsel within the case, informed the 15-judge bench, including that Nicaragua had “rushed this case to court docket on the premise of flimsiest proof.”
On Monday, Nicaragua had argued that Germany was facilitating the fee of genocide towards Palestinians in Gaza by offering Israel with navy and monetary assist, and it requested for emergency measures ordering the German authorities to halt its help. The court docket is anticipated to resolve inside weeks whether or not to subject emergency measures.
The proceedings, which concluded Tuesday, had been the third time in latest months that the U.N. court docket — normally a sleepy venue for disputes between nations — turned a discussion board for nations to place stress on Israel and help Palestinians.
Earlier this yr, the court docket heard arguments by South Africa that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza and ordered the Israeli authorities to take steps to forestall such atrocities. The court docket has not dominated on whether or not genocide was in truth going down, an allegation that Israel has strongly denied.
The most recent case, introduced by a Nicaraguan authorities that itself has been broadly accused of repression and human rights violations, has positioned a highlight on Germany, Israel’s second-largest arms provider after the US. Germany’s management calls help for Israel a “Staatsräson,” a nationwide motive for existence, as a manner of atoning for the Holocaust.
However the mounting dying toll and humanitarian disaster in Gaza have led some German officers to ask whether or not that backing has gone too far.
Attorneys for Germany urged the court docket to throw out the case. They argued that Germany has tried to stability the pursuits of each Israel and the Palestinians, and offered figures displaying that Berlin was among the many largest particular person donors to the U.N. and different companies that present humanitarian assist to Gaza.
“Germany has at all times been a robust supporter of the rights of the Palestinian individuals,” Ms. von Uslar-Gleichen mentioned. “That is, alongside Israel’s safety, the second precept that has guided Germany’s response to the Center East battle usually, and to its present escalation specifically.”
In 2023, Germany accepted arms exports to Israel valued at 326.5 million euros, or about $353.7 million, in response to figures revealed by the economics ministry. That’s roughly 10 instances the sum accepted the earlier yr.
Germany’s authorized staff argued on Tuesday that almost all of its exports had been nonlethal help, corresponding to protecting gear, communications tools and protection tools towards chemical hazards.
Christian Tams, a lawyer for Germany, denied Nicaragua’s claims that Berlin had elevated weapons provides to Israel because the Oct. 7 Hamas assault. He argued that since then, Germany had accepted 4 export licenses for navy tools, with three of the licenses for coaching and testing matériel not appropriate for fight. The fourth license was for 3,000 moveable antitank weapons.
Critics have mentioned that there’s little distinction between the kinds of weapons offered to Israel whereas it’s at battle. On Monday, Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez, Nicaragua’s ambassador to the Netherlands, informed the court docket that “it doesn’t matter if an artillery shell is delivered straight from Germany to an Israeli tank shelling a hospital” or goes to replenish Israel’s stockpiles.
Pieter D. Wezeman, a senior researcher on the Stockholm Worldwide Peace Analysis Institute, which tracks world arms exports, mentioned the German place is in step with typical arms exports to Israel.
“Whereas they don’t do the killing instantly, they’re a vital a part of the general system, the armed forces of a rustic, which really make it doable to interact in warfare,” he mentioned.
Attorneys say that Germany is a better goal for a go well with than is the US, by far Israel’s essential navy supporter. Germany has granted full jurisdiction to the Worldwide Court docket of Justice. However the US denies its jurisdiction, besides in circumstances the place Washington explicitly offers its consent.
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