Germany has suspended all military exports to Israel that could be used in its brutal war on Gaza, in a swift response to the decision by the occupying regime’s so-called security cabinet to approve a plan aimed at taking over Gaza City.
“The even tougher military action by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, which was decided last night by the Israeli security cabinet, makes it increasingly difficult for the [German] Federal Government to see how these goals can be achieved,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in a statement on Friday.
He added, “Under these circumstances, the German government will not authorize any exports of military equipment that could be used in the Gaza Strip until further notice.”
Germany supplied a third of the Israeli regime’s arms imports between 2020 and 2024, second only to weapons sales from the United States, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
The suspension allows for the potential continuation of exports for systems not connected to Israel’s genocidal Gaza wars, including anti-air missile systems and naval equipment.
Merz also called on the Tel Aviv regime to improve the humanitarian situation on the ground in Gaza.
“The German government remains deeply concerned about the ongoing suffering of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip,” the statement said. “With the planned offensive, Israel bears even greater responsibility than before for providing aid.”
Merz called on Israel to allow comprehensive access for aid deliveries, including for UN organizations and other NGOs, and said Israel “must continue to comprehensively and sustainably address the humanitarian situation in Gaza.”
Merz’s declaration comes in response to increasing public pressure in Germany to reassess arms sales, as the United Nations and Palestinian health officials indicate a rise in civilian casualties and restricted access to assistance in Gaza.
Elsewhere in the statement, Merz asserted that Israel “has the right to defend itself against Hamas,” adding that the release of Israeli captives and “purposeful” negotiations toward a ceasefire in the 22-month war “are our top priority.”
He also said Hamas must not have a role in the future governance of Gaza.
Germany is among Israel’s closest allies and strongest advocates within Europe, which has typically not adopted as firm a stance against Israeli policies as certain other European Union nations.
Merz finally called on Israel “not to take any further steps toward annexing the West Bank.”
Under the shadow of the genocidal war in Gaza, Israel has accelerated its annexation drive in the West Bank. The occupied West Bank has been under Israeli military occupation since 1967.
The Israeli military has intensified daily raids and mass arrests, notably in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, where Israeli bulldozers have razed entire residential areas, expelling at least 40,000 people.
Approximately 770,000 illegal Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, across 180 settlements and 256 outposts – including 138 classified as agricultural or pastoral, according to Palestinian reports.