Germany continues delivery of weapons to Israel

Today, on November 24, the German government lifted a so-called suspension on weapons deliveries to Israel. The reasoning that the German government gave for this decision was the “ceasefire” from October 2025, since which over 342 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli state.

The German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul declared that the decision to lift the suspension was “responsible and correct,” while Israeli officials called on other governments to follow Germany’s steps.

In August 2025, Chancellor Friedrich Merz had declared that there should be a halt to arms exports that could be used by the Israeli military in Gaza. Merz had been forced to make this declaration due to polls showing that 80% of people in Germany are against Israel’s actions in Gaza, as well as almost two years of ongoing protests. With mounting legal cases and international institutions defining the genocide as a genocide, German officials fear that they may also be held accountable.

Since the beginning of the genocide, the German state has been a staunch supporter of Israel, militarily, ideologically, and politically. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reports that: “Germany provided 30% of Israel’s major arms imports in 2019-2023, primarily naval equipment including Sa’ar 6-class frigates (MEKO A-100 Light Frigates), which were used in the Gaza war.”

Merz’s announcement was hypocritical, and even from August to November 2025, weapons deliveries to Israel continued. Merz’s statements only concerned a halt to new export licenses for arms exports – already approved arms exports were not affected by the statement.
Germany remains the second-largest weapons deliverer to Israel. 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) remained in place. In other words, German weapons did not cease being used to kill Palestinians in Gaza. Furthermore, the short licensing freeze was limited to ammunition for artillery, tanks, and small arms. Export licenses for warships continued to be distributed, as will those for other essential goods Israel needs for its war. If the German government truly wanted 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.

In general, 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 been 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. It is difficult to track which arms deliveries are being used where.

Now the official continuation of weapons deliveries from November 24 means that new weapons deals will be made with even more impunity.

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. It is not only certain weaponry or only weaponry that may be used in Gaza that must cease, but rather all arms and military exports to the genocidal Israeli settler-colonial state must also be stopped.

Simultaneously, Germany imports 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.

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.

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.