Berlin has followed through on the partial export restrictions imposed by Chancellor Friedrich Merz last month, DW News reported on Friday, noting that not a single arms shipment to Israel has been approved since the announcement.
The restriction, placed in response to the ongoing war against Hamas, prevents Germany from sending arms shipments if the weapons are likely to be used in Gaza.
Left Party lawmaker Ulrich Thoden reportedly requested confirmation on September 12 that Germany had followed through on Merz’s decision on August 8.
Calls for tighter restrictions
While asserting that Germany “reaffirms the principles of its Israel policy and remains particularly committed to the protection of the State of Israel,” State Secretary Thomas Steffen said Berlin decided “on a case-by-case basis and in light of the respective situation after careful review, taking foreign and security policy considerations as well as legal requirements into account.”
Thoden’s office told DW News that the official felt Berlin wasn’t going far enough in its restrictions on Israel and should ban the shipment of all arms.
“Even though it is now said that no permits have been issued in the short time since the Merz declaration, we as The Left Party remain skeptical about how the Merz declaration will be implemented in concrete terms,” it said in a statement.
“Politically necessary would be a complete halt to all [even already approved] arms exports to Israel and an end to the close arms cooperation between Germany and Israel. Otherwise, the German government runs a serious risk of being guilty of complicity in the Israeli military’s crimes under international law against the Palestinian civilian population.”