”Under these circumstances, the federal government allows no export of military equipment that may be used in the Gaza Strip for the time being”, it says in a statement from Merz, quoted in German media.
It is unclear exactly what military equipment is covered by the restriction, but of Israel's total arms imports in 2020-2024, Germany accounts for about a third - only the USA sells more weapons to Israel than Germany. This is shown by statistics from the peace research institute Sipri.
Merz's vice-chancellor, the social democrat Lars Klingbeil, welcomes the announcement and calls the humanitarian suffering in Gaza "unbearable".
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unsurprisingly criticizes the decision.
"Instead of supporting Israel's justified war against Hamas, which carried out the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust, Germany rewards Hamas terrorism with its arms embargo against Israel", it says from his office.
Demanding an immediate stop
On the question of whether it is relevant for Sweden to also stop arms exports to Israel, Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard (The Moderate Party) says in a written comment to TT:
”Sweden has a restrictive view on the export of military equipment to Israel. In practice, no permits have been granted since the 1950s, with the exception of follow-up deliveries of such material that was not considered to be military equipment in the original transaction”.
She also shares the outside world's outrage over Israel's new plan to occupy Gaza City.
I see with great concern the decision made by the Israeli government, she says to SVT News.
I have previously repeated that any attempt to annex, change or reduce Gaza's territory would be contrary to international law.
Chinese concern
Several world leaders are also reacting to Israel's new plan. Among other things, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen criticizes Israel's plan to occupy Gaza City.
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk is strongly critical:
”The plan is entirely contrary to the International Court's judgment that Israel must end its occupation as soon as possible”, says Türk in a statement.
China also expresses concern. Israel must "immediately cease these dangerous actions", writes a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry in Beijing. "The Gaza Strip belongs to the Palestinian people and cannot be separated from the Palestinian territory".
