Included in the recent arms deliveries are transmissions for Israel’s Merkava tanks, which were manufactured in Germany and approved for export during the summer.
Germany has approved additional arms exports to Israel worth more than €30 million ($31.2 million) in recent weeks, the German newsweekly Der Spiegel reported on Tuesday.
Over the course of the year, Germany has authorized arms exports to Israel totaling more than €160 million, despite growing international criticism over Israel’s genocidal actions in Gaza.
The latest export figures were disclosed by the Ministry of Economics following a parliamentary inquiry, Der Spiegel reported.
While the German government has approved many of Israel’s arms requests, it has reportedly refrained from delivering goods classified as weapons of war, such as artillery or tank ammunition.
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According to the report, the Israeli government submitted a specific request for weapons of war, including artillery and tank ammunition, shortly after the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation, carried out by the Palestinian Resistance in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. However, Berlin has yet to approve these requests.
Included in the recent arms deliveries are transmissions for Israel’s Merkava tanks, which were manufactured in Germany and approved for export during the summer.
Germany had previously suspended the delivery of weapons that could be used in Gaza in March, after Nicaragua filed a case against Germany at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing it of facilitating genocide in the Gaza Strip.
Germany has long been considered a key ally of Israel, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz frequently underscoring Germany’s special responsibility for Israel’s security due to its Nazi-era history.
In 2023, Germany was responsible for 47 percent of Israel’s total imports of conventional arms, second only to the United States, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
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Ongoing Genocide
Meanwhile, the Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip continued with the death toll among starved and besieged Palestinian civilians rising daily.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7, 2023.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 45,338 Palestinians have been killed, and 107,764 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
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Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. However, Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern region.
(PC, Anadolu)
