Germany tells ICJ Gaza hearing arms sales to Israel ‘defensive’

Germany’s director of legal affairs, Tania von Uslar-Gleichen, "firmly rejected Nicaragua’s accusations", which she said were "rushed to court on the basis of the flimsiest of evidence."

"Germany has always been an advocate for the promotion of international humanitarian law," said Uslar-Gleichen. "Germany is doing its utmost to live up to its responsibility vis-a-vis both the Israeli and Palestinian people."

"The situation in Gaza is unbearable. Too many lives have been destroyed, and too many life plans have been shattered. We all want this to end. But this type of strategic litigation between proxies will not bring us closer to this goal," said law professor Anne Peters, who also represented Germany.

Weapons of war

Germany is Israel’s second-most important arms supplier, behind only the United States according to a 2023 report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

According to German economy ministry figures the government approved the export of €326m in military support in 2023, 10 times more than in 2022 — the majority of which (€288m) came after 30 June.

Nicaragua, citing these figures, argued this indicated Germany’s significant support for Israel’s acts of violence and possible war crimes in Gaza.

The German ministry’s own figures show that the government approved war weapons to the tune of €20.1m.

This included licences for 3,000 portable anti-tank weapons, 500,000 rounds of ammunition for machine and submachine guns or automatic rifles, as well as ignition and propelling charges for ammunition and other types of weapons.

In November 2023 the Financial Times revealed that the German government created a "working group of the foreign office, ministry of economic affairs and office for export control" tasked with expediting Israeli arms requests.

Not quite, says Germany

But on Tuesday international professor Christian Tams, representing Germany, sought to refute this image and said that nearly all German military exports to Israel since 7 October have been "defensive in nature."

He said that "98 percent of the licences granted did not concern war weapons but other military equipment" and that 25 percent of the exports to Israel were meant for processing in Israel and subsequent re-export to Germany.

He also claimed that exports to Israel have drastically decreased since October 2023 and that 80 percent of the export of war weapons happened in "the immediate context of Hamas’ horrendous attacks" in October.

According to data provided by Germany’s advocates, the volume of exports in October amounted to €203m, while the total supply in 2024 amounted to €590,000 in February and €1.06 million in March, respectively, indicating a significant decline.

"These [2024] exports were intended for binocular lenses, hydrogen storage for submarines, and infrared technology for defence against guided missiles," said Tams. "These are not items that can be used to commit war crimes."

He said the German Bundestag also granted Israel’s armed forces sanitary materials and helmets.

Germany is also accused of having handed over two Heron drones. However, Germany now claims that the two Heron drones are, in fact, Israeli drones.

"At no point have they left Israel," said Tams. "German soldiers have been trained on these drones per the lease agreement. After 7 October, German military personnel left Israel."

Defunding UNRWA

Germany’s lawyers also claimed that the government did not "defund" the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in January but rather temporarily paused the approval of additional funds.

Nicaragua had asked the court to order Germany to resume its financing of UNRWA, which it halted in January.

"We’re temporarily holding off on approving further funding for UNRWA in Gaza," said Tams, until Israel’s accusations regarding 12 of its employees supposedly being involved in the Hamas attacks of 7 October is resolved.

As of now, it’s unclear if Israel’s accusations against UNRWA have any evidence.

Janez Lenarcic, the EU Commission’s head of humanitarian aid, said Israel had not presented evidence to him or any other UNRWA donor.

"Even if those allegations do turn out to be true," he said in March, "that doesn’t automatically make UNRWA the perpetrator."

Similar to South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, the ICJ will likely take years to reach a final ruling on Nicaragua’s case against Germany.

But the court is anticipated to make an interim decision within weeks.