Nicaragua has asked the United Nations Supreme Court to block German arms sales to Israel in a landmark lawsuit.
Germany is accused of violating the UN Genocide Convention by sending munitions to Israel and cutting off funding to UN aid agencies.
Berlin rejects the claims and plans to submit arguments to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Tuesday.
In 2023, about 30% of Israel's military equipment purchases came from Germany, totaling 300 million euros ($326 million, $257 million).
Israel rejects accusations of genocide in its Gaza operation and insists it has the right to defend itself.
Israel's attack on Gaza has killed more than 33,000 people, the majority of them civilians, according to the Hamas-led Gaza Health Ministry. Gaza is on the brink of starvation, with Oxfam reporting that 300,000 people trapped in the north have been living on an average of 245 calories a day since January.
Nicaragua claims that Germany's arms sales to Israel, which totaled $326.5 million last year and are expected to increase tenfold in 2022, are complicit in Israel's alleged war crimes.
According to DPA news agency, parts for air defense systems and communications equipment accounted for the bulk of sales.
Nicaragua says the UN Supreme Court has ordered Berlin to halt arms sales and resume funding to an aid agency, one of the few international organizations still operating in Gaza, according to documents filed with the ICJ. I hope you will order me to do so.
The lack of such measures means that “Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide and is neglecting its obligation to take all possible measures to prevent the commission of genocide.”
Nicaraguan lawyer Alan Perret said at the opening of the trial: “It is urgent that Germany halts its continued sales.''
“Germany is fully aware and aware of the dangers of the weapons it has and continues to provide to Israel,” he told the judge.
Berlin denies the allegations but remains tight-lipped about its legal strategy ahead of the hearing.
“We are keeping an eye on the Nicaraguan case and deny the allegations as frivolous,” government spokesman Wolfgang Büchner said.
Prime Minister Olaf Scholz has been a vocal supporter of Israel's right to self-defense, but faces growing domestic resentment over continued arms sales to the country.
On Sunday, a group of civil servants sent a letter to Germany's leaders, calling on the government to “immediately halt the supply of arms to the Israeli government.”
“Israel has committed crimes in Gaza that are clearly inconsistent with international law and, by extension, with the constitutional obligations of federal civil servants and civil servants,” the statement said, citing a January ICJ ruling.
In the January case, the ICJ ruled that “it appears that at least some of the acts and omissions that South Africa alleges were committed by Israel in Gaza may fall within the terms of the treaty.”
But critics of the incident are quick to highlight that Nicaragua itself has an impressive human rights record, accusing the government of repressing opposition. In March, Britain's mission to the United Nations accused President Daniel Ortega's government of “relentlessly” suppressing human rights and civil liberties.