Egypt Daily News – A source close to the German Ministry of Economy stated that Germany has suspended licenses for any new arms exports to Israel, as it deals with legal challenges.
Last year, Germany approved arms exports to Israel worth 326.5 million euros (363.5 million dollars), including military equipment and weapons used in wars, a tenfold increase compared to 2022, according to data from the Ministry of Economy, which grants export licenses.
However, approvals have declined this year. Data provided by the Ministry of Economy in response to a parliamentary question indicates that the value of German weapons acquired by Israel did not exceed 14.5 million euros from January to August 21. Of this amount, the category “war weapons” accounted for only 32,449 euros.
A source close to the ministry reported that a senior government official stated that it has halted the approval process for arms export licenses to Israel, pending the resolution of legal issues that claim such exports from Germany violate humanitarian law.
The source added that the government stated it had not issued any military weapons under any license since the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, except for spare parts for long-term contracts.
This was in the context of defending itself in two cases, one before the International Court of Justice and another in Berlin raised by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights.
No case challenging German arms exports to Israel has been accepted so far, including one filed by Nicaragua before the International Court of Justice.
But the issue has created disagreements within the government. While the chancellery maintains its support for Israel, the ministries of economy and foreign affairs, led by the Green Party and sensitive to the criticisms of its members, increasingly criticize Netanyahu’s administration.
Legal challenges across Europe have led other allies of Israel to halt or suspend arms exports.
This month, Britain suspended 30 out of 350 licenses for arms exports to Israel due to concerns about potential violations of international humanitarian law.
In February, a Dutch court ordered Amsterdam to halt all exports of F-35 fighter jet spare parts to Israel due to concerns about their use in attacks on civilian targets in Gaza.
The Biden administration halted exports of certain bombs to Israel this year due to U.S. concerns about their use in the densely populated Gaza Strip, before resuming them later.
The approvals and exports of other types of weapons continued, in more precise systems, as American officials confirmed that Israel needs the ability to defend itself.
