In his opening remarks, Nicaraguan Ambassador Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez said his country requests the court to order Germany to stop providing support for Israel in its war in Gaza.
“The case before us involves momentous events affecting the life and wellbeing of hundreds of thousands of people, and even the destruction of an entire people,” he said.
“Serious breaches of international humanitarian law, and other peremptory norms of international law, including genocide, are taking place in Palestine,” he stressed.
The ambassador underlined that by providing political and military support to Israel, Germany is violating the 1948 Genocide Convention and international humanitarian law.
“Nicaragua is requesting the court to order that Germany to cease providing support to Israel in its campaign of destruction of the Palestinian people,” he said.
The German government remains one of the strongest supporters of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, despite growing public pressure. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has repeatedly said Germany bears special responsibility for Israel because of its Nazi history.
Berlin approved €326.5 million ($354 million) worth of weapons exports to Israel in 2023, the majority of which were approved after Oct. 7, 2023, a tenfold increase compared to 2022.
Israel has waged a military offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by Hamas in which nearly 1,200 Israelis were killed.
Nearly 33,200 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and almost 75,000 injured besides mass destruction, displacement and shortages of necessities.
Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.