(The Hague) Nicaragua accused Germany on Friday before the highest UN court of facilitating a “genocide” in the Gaza Strip by supporting Israel and ceasing funding the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa ).
The Central American country filed a case against Germany “because of its alleged failures to fulfill its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said in a statement.
South Africa had already referred the matter to the ICJ in December, arguing that Israel’s operations in Gaza amounted to a violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
The court, based in The Hague, has yet to rule on this point, but on January 26 it ordered Israel to prevent any possible act of genocide and to allow access for humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
Nicaragua argues, according to the ICJ, that there is “a recognized risk of genocide of the Palestinian people and, above all, of the population of the Gaza Strip”.
Germany, by providing political, financial and military support to Israel and by ceasing to finance UNRWA, “facilitates this genocide and, in any event, has failed in its obligation to do everything possible to prevent it “.
The war between Israel and Hamas was sparked on October 7 by an unprecedented attack by Hamas commandos infiltrated from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,160 people, mostly civilians. killed that day, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data.
In retaliation, Israel vowed to annihilate Hamas. Its land and air offensive has left more than 30,000 dead in Gaza, the vast majority civilians, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
According to the UN, 2.2 million people, the vast majority of the population, are threatened with famine in the territory besieged by Israel, particularly in the north where destruction, fighting and looting make it almost impossible to survive. delivery of humanitarian aid.
After Israel accused UNRWA employees of involvement in the October 7 attack, a dozen countries, including major donors like the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and Sweden announced they were suspending their funding to the agency.