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Germany approves over $100m worth of arms for Israel 

October 25, 2024 at 10:23 am

Thousands of people carrying Palestinian flags and banners march as they protest Israel’s attacks on Gaza and Germany’s arms support to Israel in Unter den Linden Street, Berlin, Germany on April 13, 2024 [Halil Sagirkaya/Anadolu via Getty Images]

German Foreign Ministry data that was revealed yesterday indicated that Berlin has approved military exports to Israel worth more than $100 million over the past three months.

According to the ministry, Germany has approved arms exports worth €94,052,394 ($101.61 million) to Israel since August, according to the government’s response to a parliamentary inquiry by Left Party MP Sevim Dagdelen. The new approvals follow a significant drop in arms exports to Israel in the first half of the year.

This comes as the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights announced yesterday that it has filed an appeal with the Frankfurt Administrative Court on behalf of a Gaza resident, seeking to halt further arms exports.

The appeal claims that German weapons contribute to civilian harm in Gaza. The plaintiff in the case, a Palestinian resident of Gaza whose wife and daughter were killed in Israeli air strikes, argues that continued arms shipments endanger his life and that of others, calling on Germany to stop sending weapons.

The human rights centre said the case focuses on Germany’s approval of military exports that could be used in the conflict, including Merkava tank components from the German defence company Rheinmetall AG.

Neither Rheinmetall AG nor the German Ministry of Economic Affairs commented on the matter.

Read: Spain calls for Israel arms export ban