Germany continues Weapons Deliveries for Genocide in Gaza

by Omnia Magdy

Germany is the second-largest arms supplier to Israel as almost 30% of all weapons delivered to Israel originate from Germany. In August 2025, Chancellor Friedrich Merz declared that there should be a halt to arms exports that could be used by the Israeli military in Gaza. Yet, weapons are still being delivered from Germany to Israel. How is this possible?

Merz’s announcement is hypocritical: The German government continues to supply arms that are used to murder people in Palestine. The Federal Press Conference has confirmed that Merz’s statements only concern a halt to new export licenses for arms exports. Already approved arms exports will not be stopped.

All export licenses for arms exports to Israel issued up to August 2025 (amounting to almost half a billion euros from October 2023 to May 2025) remain in place. In other words: German weapons will continue to be used to kill people in Gaza. Furthermore, the licensing freeze is limited to ammunition for artillery, tanks, and small arms. Export licenses for warships will continue to be distributed, as will those for other essential goods Israel needs for its war. If the German government truly wants to prevent military equipment from being used in Gaza in violation of international law, it must suspend existing export licenses for all war-related goods.

Our demands must be more far-reaching: We must demand not only a halt to the delivery of weapons that could be used in Gaza, but a complete arms embargo. This means: an end to all arms and military deliveries from Germany to Israel. As well as an end to the purchase of weapons systems from Israel to Germany. Furthermore, we must demand: a transition from military and weapons production to civilian production. No social cuts for war, but money for social infrastructure, schools, public transport, not for the armament policy of Germany and NATO.

It is not easy to track which arms and military exports are being used in Gaza. The statements made by the German government are contradictory. For one thing, it has claimed in the past that no German weapons were being used in Gaza. At the same time, Merz announced on August 8 that: “Until further notice, no exports of military equipment that could be used in the Gaza Strip will be approved.” This means that the German government is well aware that German weapons were used in the genocide in Gaza. The government does not specify which weapons these are. A significant portion of German arms deliveries to Israel are not complete weapons, but rather weapon components that are then assembled in Israel. Therefore, it is difficult to track which arms deliveries are being used where. We therefore say: All arms and military exports to Israel must be stopped.

Israeli war crimes are not limited to Gaza. In the West Bank, Lebanon, or attacks on Iran and Syria: the Israeli occupying power is using weapons for war throughout the Middle East and destabilizing the region. German submarines, for example, play an important role in helping Israel wage war in the region. No weapons of any kind must be sent to Israel.

The import of Israeli weapons must also be stopped. Germany buys missile defense systems and drones from Israel, for example. The weapons systems that Israel exports are tested on Palestinians in the “Gaza laboratory” and thus marketed in a perverse manner. The import of Israeli weapons systems is part of Germany’s massive arms buildup, which aims to plunge the country into active war, in the context of NATO’s rearmament. We must oppose not only the export of weapons, but also imports if we want lasting peace.

The genocide is still going on and until now, German weapons continue to be used in Gaza to carry out the Zionist genocide against the Palestinians. Every day, people in Gaza are murdered by Western weapons, and this is even ideologically justified in Germany. That is why we will continue to take to the streets until there is an arms embargo, until the genocide ends, and until Palestine is free!

Only increasing political pressure will force the German government to end its support for the genocide. The halt to new arms shipment approvals is a result of massive pressure on Germany’s widespread complicity in the genocide. Merz has not renounced his comprehensive support for Israel, but has reemphasized it. Only growing protest will be able to dissuade the government from its course and force a complete halt to all arms shipments.