Montevideo, Mar 2 (UNI) Nicaragua has filed a lawsuit against Germany with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over Berlin's suspension of support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Nicaraguan media have reported.
The government of Nicaragua filed a lawsuit against Germany on Friday for the violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, El 19 Digital news portal reported.
The report cited the Nicaraguan government as saying that Germany is providing financial, political and military aid to Israel, knowing that it will be used to violate international law.
Managua believes that Berlin is well aware of the fatal impact of its decision to suspend funding for UNRWA, which "amounts to the punishment of millions of Palestinians, especially in the Gaza Strip, as they are doomed to hunger and disease," the report said.
UNRWA is the primary humanitarian agency in the Gaza Strip, with over 2 million people depending on it for their survival. In January, Israel shared data with the agency's leadership on the alleged involvement of some of its staff members in the October 7 Hamas attack and vowed to hold accountable anyone involved in "acts of terror." The United States, Finland, Italy, Australia, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom and some other countries responded by suspending funding for the agency. In early February, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed an independent review panel led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna to examine UNRWA activities.
On October 7, Palestinian movement Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack against Israel from Gaza and breached the border, killing 1,200 people and abducting around 240 others. Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza, and started a ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. At least 30,000 people have been killed so far in the Gaza Strip, local authorities said. UNI/SPUTNIK AKS