Why Nicaragua is suing Germany at the World Court, invoking the Genocide Convention | Explained

The story so far: Nicaragua filed a case against Germany in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2024, arguing that the European country violated the 1948 Genocide Convention by supplying weapons to Israel during its attacks on Gaza and accusing Berlin of having “contributed to the commission of genocide” against the Palestinian people.

While the ICJ, also known as the World Court and headquartered in The Hague, initially rejected Nicaragua’s request for emergency provisional measures to halt Germany’s arms exports to Israel, the court did not quash the case.

Proceedings in the ICJ take place over the course of several years, and on Monday (September 7, 2026), Germany asked the court to dismiss Nicaragua’s case, arguing that the Central American country did not follow the proper procedures before filing the case and that large parts of the case fall outside the jurisdiction of the ICJ.