Germany told the United Nations’ top court on Monday that a genocide case over weapons sales to Israel was improperly filed by Nicaragua and should be thrown out.

The Central American country accuses Berlin of violating the Genocide Convention and international humanitarian law by “facilitating” acts of genocide in Gaza by providing arms and other military support to Israel.

While the case centers on Germany, it indirectly takes aim at Israel’s campaign in Gaza in response to the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas. Israel, which isn’t a party in the proceedings, strongly denies that its actions amount to acts of genocide.

“Nicaragua’s conduct indicates that it was not interested in hearing Germany’s view on its allegations, but simply in bringing Germany before this court,” Julia Monar, Germany’s top lawyer, told the judges.

According to Monar, Nicaragua failed to properly notify the German government and gave her country less than a month to reply before launching proceedings. Countries are typically expected to attempt to resolve disputes before bringing them to the court.

Another lawyer for Germany, Antonios Tzanakopoulos, said that Nicaragua’s formal notification about the case came from a Yahoo email address sent to an general inbox, rather than through the appropriate diplomatic channels.

Germany has been a staunch supporter of Israel for decades and is the second-largest supplier of arms to Israel after the United States.

Monar stressed that her country carefully reviews all exports of military equipment in accordance with international law. “Germany has not, since 2024, authorized an export of weapons of war, with final destination in Israel that can be used in the Gaza conflict,” she said.

In 2024, the court rejected an emergency request from Nicaragua to order Germany to halt military and other aid to Israel in Gaza, but the 16-judge panel declined to throw out the case altogether.

(AP & YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)