Criticism from the SPD and the Union: Several German politicians want to end arms exports to Israel

Berlin. Several SPD members of the Bundestag are calling for an end to German arms exports to Israel because of Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip. "German weapons must not be used to spread humanitarian disasters and violate international law," Adis Ahmetovic, foreign policy spokesperson for the SPD parliamentary group, told Stern magazine. "Therefore, we call on (Benjamin) Netanyahu's government to be willing to agree to a ceasefire and return to the negotiating table."

His party colleague Ralf Stegner said: "The humanitarian catastrophe for the Palestinian civilian population and the violation of international law by the Netanyahu government must end immediately and must not be prolonged with German weapons." The German government had, for good reasons, made an exception for Israel from the practice of not supplying weapons to conflict zones. The weapons would have served Israel's security and defense. "There can be no question of that in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank at present."

SPD MP Isabel Cademartori warned that Germany could be complicit in war crimes by supplying arms to Israel. "This could lead to Germany itself being prosecuted by international courts," she told the magazine. The German government should therefore limit arms exports, particularly by stopping the supply of tank ammunition and spare parts.

Criticism also came from the CDU/CSU: Armin Laschet (CDU), chairman of the Bundestag's Foreign Affairs Committee, described Israel's actions in light of the slow pace of aid deliveries on the ZDF program "Berlin Direkt" as a violation of international law. "Withholding food supplies, aid deliveries, and medicine deliveries for the population is not fighting Hamas," Laschet said. This violates international rules. International law requires protecting the population and providing it with food, even in wars. "Allowing people to starve is a violation of international law," said the chairman of the Bundestag's Foreign Affairs Committee.

CDU politician Armin Laschet

Source: IMAGO/dts news agency

At the beginning of the week, Israel eased a nearly three-month blockade of humanitarian aid, but, in the United Nations' view, allowed only inadequate aid. The armed forces also launched a major new offensive about a week ago.

On Sunday, Spain called for an international arms embargo against Israel to end the humanitarian catastrophe and the war in the Gaza Strip. "The last thing the Middle East needs right now is weapons," said Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares in Madrid.

Recently, export licenses for military equipment in Germany have declined. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the value of exports permitted by the German government in the first quarter of the year was €1.18 billion. Israel ranked tenth with export licenses worth €28 million.

According to consistent media reports, Israel's military plans to capture three-quarters of the sealed-off Gaza Strip within a few weeks. According to the plans, it will take only two months to capture 75 percent of the coastal territory, the Times of Israel reported, citing the military. Currently, the army controls around 40 percent of the territory. The Palestinian civilian population is to be crowded into a quarter of the sealed-off coastal territory in order to liberate Gaza from the Islamist Hamas, the Wall Street Journal also reported.

Israel's armed forces launched a major new offensive about a week ago. The military has now deployed all of its regular infantry and armored brigades to the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported. Hamas is under enormous pressure, said Chief of Staff Ejal Zamir on Sunday during a troop visit to the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis. The goal of intensifying the fighting is to achieve the declared war aims: to completely defeat Hamas and free the hostages still being held.

RND/dpa/bab