The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday said it would hold hearings on April 8 and 9 in Nicaragua's case against Germany for giving military aid to Israel and defunding UNRWA, the UN “Palestinian refugee” agency, Reuters reported.
Nicaragua two weeks ago launched the ICJ case against Germany, claiming that "Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide and, in any case has failed in its obligation to do everything possible to prevent the commission of genocide."
German government spokesperson Wolfgang Buechner said Germany would present its position in court but added that Berlin believes the case is unjustified, according to Reuters.
Major donors to UNRWA, including the United States and Germany, suspended funding for the agency after Israel said that around 12 of its employees were involved in Hamas’ October 7 attacks in Israel.
The Nicaraguan case follows South Africa’s case against Israel at the ICJ, accusing the Jewish state of carrying out genocide in Gaza.
On January 26, the ICJ handed down a ruling in South Africa’s case, saying that Israel must do everything to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza and take "immediate" measures for aid provisions. It did not, however, order Israel to stop the war in Gaza.
After South Africa filed the case against Israel, Germany announced that it would intervene as a third party in the case and present its own case to the court that Israel has not committed genocide.
Nicaragua had previously filed an application with the ICJ to join South Africa in its case against Israel, saying it considers that the conduct of Israel is in "violation of its obligations under the Genocide Convention".
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)