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Germany Halts Military Exports to Israel for Use in Gaza, Sparking Backlash From Israeli Leaders, Jewish Communities
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz attends a cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Aug. 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen
Germany announced it was halting exports of arms and other military equipment to Israel for use in Gaza, shortly after the Israeli security cabinet approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to expand operations in northern Gaza.
“The federal government will, until further notice, withhold approval for the export of any military equipment that could be used in the Gaza Strip,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in a statement on Friday.
Merz argued that Israel’s decision to escalate its military campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas “makes it increasingly difficult” for Berlin to pursue its “highest priorities” of securing the release of the remaining Israeli hostages and achieving a ceasefire in Gaza.
“Israel has every right to defend itself against Hamas terrorism,” the German leader said. “Disarming Hamas is essential — there can be no place for Hamas in Gaza’s future.”
However, Merz warned that Israel’s new offensive “bears an even greater responsibility for ensuring the population’s needs are met.” He also expressed “deep concern about the continuing suffering of the civilian population in Gaza.”
Israel hat das Recht, sich gegen den Terror der Hamas zu verteidigen. Die Freilassung der Geiseln und Verhandlungen über einen Waffenstillstand haben für uns oberste Priorität. Die Entwaffnung der Hamas ist unerlässlich – die Hamas darf zukünftig in Gaza keine Rolle spielen. 1/5
— Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz (@bundeskanzler) August 8, 2025
On Friday, the Israeli security cabinet overwhelmingly approved Netanyahu’s plan to defeat Hamas, which includes taking control of Gaza City.
In a press release, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will prepare to “take control of Gaza City, while distributing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population outside the combat zones.”
Shortly after the announcement, Merz also called on Israel to take “comprehensive and sustainable measures” to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, while urging the country to avoid any steps toward annexing the West Bank.
According to a report by Politico, Germany’s decision to freeze arms exports that could potentially be used in Gaza would not apply to defense systems like missile defense or naval equipment and may only affect new contracts, leaving deliveries from previous agreements unaffected.
Netanyahu vehemently condemned Germany’s decision, stressing that Israel’s objective is not to occupy Gaza but to free it from Hamas and pave the way for a peaceful and stable Arab government.
“Instead of supporting Israel’s just war against Hamas, which carried out the most horrific attack against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, Germany is rewarding Hamas terrorism by embargoing arms to Israel,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
The local Jewish community in Germany has also sharply criticized the government’s decision to halt military equipment shipments to Israel.
“The German government’s decision represents a victory for Hamas in the global propaganda war,” Volker Beck, [resident of the German-Israeli Society (DIG), said in a statement.
“Hamas still retains military capabilities,” he continued. “How does the German government plan to disarm Hamas without resorting to force?”
Remko Leemhuis, director of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) in Berlin, also condemned the government’s decision.
“Rather than withholding essential materials from Israel, the German government should employ all available economic and political tools to intensify pressure on Hamas and its main supporters, including Iran,” he said.
Iran has long provided arms, funding, and training to Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades after Israel withdrew from the enclave in 2005.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.