ICJ rejects Nicaragua's request for action against Germany over support for Israel

The International Court of Justice on Tuesday ruled not to grant provisional measures requested by Nicaragua in its case against Germany over Berlin's support for Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip.

Nicaragua filed its case against Germany last month, alleging violations of the 1948 Genocide Convention. The South American nation accuses Berlin of supplying weapons to Israel for its war on Gaza. It has requested that the top UN court impose a series of measures against Germany, including that it “immediately” suspend its aid and weapons deliveries to Israel that “contribute to acts of genocide or are used in such a way as to violate international humanitarian law.”

“The court, by 15 votes to one, finds that the circumstances as they now present themselves to the court are not such as to require exercise of its power under Article 41 of the stature to indicate provisional measures,” ICJ President Nawaf Salam read from the ruling. Salam is a former Lebanese ambassador to the United Nations who was elected as president of the court in February.

Iranian ad-hoc Judge Mohsen Aghahosseini was the only vote in favor of Nicaragua’s request, while the other 15 judges from Somalia, China, Uganda, Lebanon, Slovakia, Germany, Japan, Romania, the United States, Brazil, Mexico, India, France, Australia and South Africa ruled against it.

The court still expressed its concern over the humanitarian conditions in Gaza, particularly “the prolonged and widespread deprivation of food and other basic necessities.”

Salam continued, “The court further recalls that pursuant to Article 1 of the Geneva Conventions, all states [and] parties are under an obligation to respect and to ensure respect for the convention in all circumstances.”

The court held two days of hearings with both sides earlier this month.

The war in Gaza has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to data from the Health Ministry in the enclave, and forced an estimated 1.7 million people into displacement, per the UN refugee agency, creating a massive humanitarian crisis.

The Israeli military launched its campaign in retaliation for Hamas’ cross-border assault on Oct. 7, during which militants killed nearly 1,200 people and took 240 others hostage.

In January, the ICJ issued an interim ruling in a separate case filed by South Africa against Israel over the Gaza war. South Africa argues that Israel’s military actions in Gaza “are genocidal in character” and in breach of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.

This developing story has been updated since initial publication.