German FM: Israel Can Kill Civilians in Gaza to ‘Defend Itself’

While denying that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, the foreign ministry spokesperson reiterates Germany’s continued flow of arms to Tel Aviv.

Germany said on Monday that it does not see any signs that Israel is committing a genocide in the besieged Gaza Strip for the last year.

The statement made by German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer came on the same day the Israeli occupation forces burnt displaced Palestinians in their tents by Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, in the Strip with footage widely being circulated on social media of the harrowing scenes in the immediate aftermath of the bombing of the tents.

The horrifying inferno followed the killing of 22 Palestinians including 15 children in a separate airstrike on a United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) school housing displaced Palestinians in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

“We see no signs that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza,” Fischer stressed to reporters at the press briefing as he was quoted by Anadolu news agency.

He went on to say in reference to a report published by the German Bild newspaper on the topic: “In this light, you may also be able to assess the reporting, and the accuracy of this reporting.”

Additionally, the German official reiterated his country’s staunch support of the Jewish state, refuting media reports that spoke of banning arms export by the foreign minister Annalena Baerbock to Israel.

He stressed nonetheless that Berlin has requested from Tel Aviv assurances that the German weapons will not be used in its war, Anadolu reported.

“We have spoken here often, we have presented this before the International Court of Justice, the minister has spoken out, and our position has not changed,” Fischer stated.

No Moratorium 

An earlier statement by the German government denied on September 18 any halt of weapons to Israel after reports circulated that it stopped arms export authorization to Tel Aviv, Euro News reported. 

“There is no moratorium on arms exports to Israel, and there will be no moratorium,” a spokesman for the German Ministry of Economic Affairs was quoted by Israel’s Haaretz newspaper as saying.

“The federal government decides on the granting of authorizations for arms exports on a case-by-case basis, considering the current situation and taking into account foreign and security policy considerations in accordance with legal and political requirements,” the spokesman added according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

Earlier on the same day, Reuters news agency quoted an unidentified source close to the German Ministry of Economy as saying that Germany halted “new exports of weapons of war to Israel while it deals with legal challenges.”

The source said that the halt on arms export licenses to Israel is “due to legal and political pressure from legal cases arguing that such exports from Germany breached humanitarian law,” Reuters reported.

The report was picked by several news outlets before it was denied by the spokesman for the German Ministry of Economic Affairs.

No Arms Embargo

A Berlin court dismissed on June 12 an urgent request by several Palestinians from Gaza to stop the approval of German arms exports to Israel, citing potential violations of humanitarian law.

Supported by organizations including the European Legal Support Centre (ELSC), Law for Palestine, and the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy, the plaintiffs argued that there was evidence of such violations in Israel’s actions against Palestinians in the enclave.

However, the Berlin administrative court ruled that the plaintiffs did not demonstrate that any arms export decisions were pending, noting that Germany had not issued any this year.

The court also stated that Germany was unlikely to approve exports that would violate international humanitarian law.

Germany approved arms exports to Israel worth €326 million ($354 million) in 2023, ten times more than in 2022.

However, approvals dropped to around €10 million in the first quarter of this year, according to Economy Ministry data.

Genocide Continues

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 42,289 Palestinians have been killed, and 98,684 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.

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. 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 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 city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.