“Germany firmly rejects Nicaragua’s accusations,” Tania von Uslar-Gleichen, an official at Germany’s Foreign Ministry and lead counsel in the scenario, instructed the 15-decide bench, incorporating that Nicaragua had “rushed this circumstance to court on the basis of flimsiest proof.”

On Monday, Nicaragua had argued that Germany was facilitating the commission of genocide in opposition to Palestinians in Gaza by providing Israel with military and money support, and it questioned for unexpected emergency actions ordering the German authorities to halt its assistance. The court docket is expected to decide inside of months whether or not to situation unexpected emergency actions.

The proceedings, which concluded Tuesday, were being the 3rd time in recent months that the U.N. court — ordinarily a sleepy venue for disputes involving nations — turned a forum for nations to put pressure on Israel and help Palestinians.

Before this 12 months, the court docket heard arguments by South Africa that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza and purchased the Israeli govt to choose measures to reduce these kinds of atrocities. The court docket has not ruled on no matter whether genocide was in fact having position, an allegation that Israel has strongly denied.

The most up-to-date case, introduced by a Nicaraguan authorities that alone has been extensively accused of repression and human rights violations, has placed a spotlight on Germany, Israel’s next-biggest arms supplier immediately after the United States. Germany’s leadership phone calls support for Israel a “Staatsräson,” a countrywide purpose for existence, as a way of atoning for the Holocaust.

But the mounting loss of life toll and humanitarian disaster in Gaza have led some German officers to inquire irrespective of whether that backing has long gone also significantly.

Lawyers for Germany urged the courtroom to toss out the scenario. They argued that Germany has experimented with to stability the passions of both Israel and the Palestinians, and introduced figures exhibiting that Berlin was amongst the premier particular person donors to the U.N. and other organizations that present humanitarian support to Gaza.

“Germany has often been a powerful supporter of the legal rights of the Palestinian persons,” Ms. von Uslar-Gleichen said. “This is, alongside Israel’s stability, the second principle that has guided Germany’s response to the Center East conflict in normal, and to its existing escalation in certain.”

In 2023, Germany accredited arms exports to Israel valued at 326.5 million euros, or about $353.7 million, in accordance to figures posted by the economics ministry. That is roughly 10 instances the sum authorised the former yr.

Germany’s lawful workforce argued on Tuesday that most of its exports had been nonlethal aid, these types of as protective equipment, communications equipment and protection products from chemical hazards. Christian Tams, a law firm for Germany, denied Nicaragua’s statements that Germany had increased weapons provides to Israel given that the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, saying that considering that then “no artillery shells, no munitions experienced been certified.”

“The photo offered by Nicaragua is at ideal inaccurate, and at worst it is a deliberate misrepresentation of the real predicament,” he claimed.

Though it was not achievable to independently confirm the figures introduced by Mr. Tams, they were approximately in line with these provided before this 12 months by the German authorities, in reaction to a problem from a lawmaker, when it reported that only about 6 % of its navy exports to Israel ended up for what it identified as “weapons of war.”

Critics have claimed that there is very little difference involving the sorts of weapons provided to Israel even though it is at war. On Monday, Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez, Nicaragua’s ambassador to the Netherlands, advised the courtroom that “it does not issue 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 at the Stockholm Worldwide Peace Analysis Institute, which tracks global arms exports, said the German place is in line with normal arms exports to Israel.

“While they really don’t do the killing instantly, they are an necessary section of the in general program, the armed forces of a country, which basically make it possible to have interaction in warfare,” he mentioned.

Attorneys say that Germany is an much easier goal for a accommodate than is the United States, by much Israel’s key military supporter. Germany has granted comprehensive jurisdiction to the Worldwide Court docket of Justice. But the United States denies its jurisdiction, besides in scenarios the place Washington explicitly gives its consent.