NICARAGUA has threatened the UK Government with action in the International Court of Justice, saying that arms it has provided to Israel may have been used “to facilitate or commit violations of the Genocide Convention” in the Gaza Strip.

The central American country said it has also issued a written warning to Germany, the Netherlands, and Canada as part of the same action.

In a bilingual Spanish and English statement, the Nicaraguan government said the four Western nations were being made aware of its “decision to hold them responsible under international law for gross and systematic violations to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”.

It comes after the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s highest court, found that allegations Israel is perpetrating genocide in Gaza were “plausible” and ordered actions to be taken to prevent it.

READ MORE: Alison Phipps: ICJ's genocide ruling marks end of Israel’s impunity

Nicaragua had previously applied to intervene in that case on the side of South Africa. It noted that, in that case, the ICJ “found it plausible that the Genocide Convention has been and is being violated by Israel”.

Nicaragua’s government went on: “If genocide is plausibly occurring in the Gaza Strip in the judgment of the highest world court, it cannot be otherwise in the judgment of the international community that is also dramatically aware of the same facts that led the court to that conclusion.

“The obligation to prevent genocide arises and begins when there is a risk of it occurring; in fact, when it is plausible that it is occurring or might occur. This plausibility is now beyond doubt and dispute.

“In that sense, Nicaragua has urged the governments of the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, and Canada to immediately halt the supply of arms, ammunitions, technology and/or components to Israel as it is plausible they might have been use to facilitate or commit violations of the Genocide Convention, including but not limited to acts of genocide, attempted genocide, complicity in genocide and conspiracy to commit genocide.”

Calls for the UK to stop supplying arms to Israel have also come from within Scotland, with an SNP MP presenting a petition to parliament saying there is “substantial evidence that these arms are being used to kill innocent civilians in Gaza”.

In its statement, Nicaragua also pointed to the pulling of funding from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

The UK was among the nations to cut funding to UNRWA after Israel alleged that 12 of the agency’s 13,000 staff were involved in the October 7 attacks by Hamas.

Israel’s dossier, which was just six pages long, was examined by Channel 4 news. The outlet’s international editor Lindsey Hilsum said: “We got hold of Israel’s dossier against UNRWA – why did the donors including the UK withdraw funding on such flimsy unproven allegations before an investigation?”

READ MORE: Dr Shelly-Ann Brown: Halting UNRWA funding will only worsen the crisis in Gaza

Nicaragua said the cutting of funding “contributes to the collective punishment of the Palestinians and to the apparent objective of forcing the Palestinian population to leave the Occupied Palestinian Territories, particularly Gaza, and preventing the exercise of their right to self-determination”.

It went on: “Nicaragua has given written notice to these governments [the UK, Germany, Netherlands, and Canada] that it will adopt all measures it considers appropriate in accordance with international law, including recourse to the International Court of Justice.”

Israel has rejected the "outrageous" allegations it is committing genocide in Gaza, saying it will "continue to do what is necessary" to defend itself from attacks from Hamas. 

“We will continue to do what is necessary to defend our country and defend our people,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after the ICJ provisional ruling was issued.

Nicaragua is led by President Daniel Ortega, who is widely considered to have become an authoritarian dictator. He first came to power in 1979 after the overthrow of the US-backed dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle.

A spokesperson for the UK Government Foreign Office said: “Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas in line with international humanitarian law, as we have said from the outset.

“We are calling for an immediate pause to get aid in and hostages out, then progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire, without a return to destruction, fighting and loss of life.”