The International Court of Justice will today decide whether Germany may continue to supply weapons to Israel for the time being

Pending a final ruling, Nicaragua has asked the court to impose “provisional measures” on Germany. These measures are intended to prevent the situation from worsening during the handling of the case. A final ruling could take years.

The Central American country wants the highest UN court to order Germany to immediately stop its military aid to Israel, insofar as that aid “could be used in violation of the Genocide Convention”. Nicaragua states that it is likely that Israel is guilty of genocide in the Gaza Strip. As a signatory of the Genocide Convention, Germany should therefore not supply weapons to Israel.

In addition, Nicaragua is demanding that Germany immediately resume its financial support for the UN refugee organization UNRWA. Germany suspended its support for UNRWA in January after Israel accused the organization’s employees of involvement in the October 7 Hamas terror attack. Last week, an independent commission concluded that Israel has provided no evidence of that accusation.

Make every effort

The question is whether the judges will agree to the Nicaraguan request for interim measures on Tuesday. In a case brought by South Africa against Israel, the UN court did not decide in January that Israel had to cease all fighting, although some other provisional measures were imposed. For example, Israel must do everything in its power to prevent genocide from being committed.

In addition to the cases brought by Nicaragua and South Africa, the International Court of Justice this year took up a third case involving Israel. The UN General Assembly has asked the court for an “advisory opinion” on the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. A ruling in that case may follow later this year.