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Nicaragua Files Case at World Court Against Germany for Aiding Israel

A Palestinian stands at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, March 1, 2024. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
A Palestinian stands at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, March 1, 2024. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
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Nicaragua Files Case at World Court Against Germany for Aiding Israel

A Palestinian stands at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, March 1, 2024. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
A Palestinian stands at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, March 1, 2024. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

Nicaragua has filed a case at the International Court of Justice against Germany for giving financial and military aid to Israel and for defunding the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), the UN's top court said on Friday.
Nicaragua asked the ICJ, also known as the World Court, to issue emergency measures requiring Berlin to stop its military aid to Israel and reverse its decision to stop funding UNRWA.
The German Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The court usually sets a date for a hearing on any requested emergency measures within weeks of a case being filed.
According to Nicaragua's claim, Germany is violating the 1948 Genocide Convention and the 1949 Geneva Conventions on the laws of war in the occupied Palestinian territories.
"By sending military equipment and now defunding UNRWA which provides essential support to the civilian population, Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide," Nicaragua said in its legal filings.
Major donors to UNRWA, including the United States and Germany, suspended funding after allegations that around 12 of its tens of thousands of Palestinian employees were suspected of involvement in the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel by Hamas.
Nicaragua's filing adds that emergency measures were needed because of Berlin's "participation in the ongoing plausible genocide and serious breaches of international humanitarian law" in the Gaza Strip.
This claim builds on the case South Africa brought against Israel for allegedly committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Last month the ICJ said South Africa's claims that Israel violated the genocide convention were not implausible and ordered emergency measures, including a call for Israel to halt any potential acts of genocide in Gaza.

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ICC Chief Prosecutor Wants Israeli Objections over Netanyahu Warrant to be Rejected

Israeli Prime Minister and Chairman of the Likud Party, Benjamin Netanyahu, makes an address. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
Israeli Prime Minister and Chairman of the Likud Party, Benjamin Netanyahu, makes an address. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
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ICC Chief Prosecutor Wants Israeli Objections over Netanyahu Warrant to be Rejected

Israeli Prime Minister and Chairman of the Likud Party, Benjamin Netanyahu, makes an address. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
Israeli Prime Minister and Chairman of the Likud Party, Benjamin Netanyahu, makes an address. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa

The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor has told judges that Israeli objections to the investigation into the 13-month war in Gaza should be rejected.

Karim Khan submitted his formal response late Monday to an appeal by Israel over The Hague-based court’s jurisdiction after judges issued arrest warrants last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas’ military chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity in connection with the war in Gaza.

The embattled Israeli leader, who is also facing corruption charges in his homeland, called the arrest warrant “ a black day in the history of nations ” and vowed to fight the allegations, The AP reported.

Individuals cannot contest an arrest warrant directly, but the state of Israel can object to the entire investigation. Israel argued in a December filing that it could look into allegations against its leaders on its own and that continuing to investigate Israelis was a violation of state sovereignty.

The ICC was established in 2002 as the permanent court of last resort to prosecute individuals responsible for the world’s most heinous atrocities — war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression.

The court’s 125 member states include Palestine, Ukraine, Canada and every country in the European Union, but dozens of countries don’t accept the court’s jurisdiction, including Israel, the United States, Russia and China.

In Khan’s combined 55-page response, he says the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, allowed it to prosecute crimes that take place in the territory of member states, regardless of where the perpetrators hail from.

The judges are expected to render a decision in the coming months.