Germany suspends arms deliveries to Israel

The German government is suspending all exports of weapons that Israel could use for military operations in the Gaza Strip.

This is reported by Spiegel.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Israelʼs current actions were making it increasingly difficult to see how the original goals of the operation could be achieved. He also expressed dissatisfaction with "even more aggressive military interventions by the Israeli army" — plans to completely seize Gaza City.

"The German Federal Government remains deeply concerned about the continued suffering of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. The planned offensive places even greater responsibility for their needs on the Israeli government than before," he added.

Merz stressed that Germany still maintains that Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas terror. He emphasized the importance of releasing the hostages and disarming Hamas.

The German Chancellor also called on the Israeli government to provide full access to the conflict zone for humanitarian organizations, UN structures, and non-governmental institutions.

Israelʼs war in the Gaza Strip

Active hostilities between Israel and Hamas have continued since October 7, 2023, when militants of the Islamist group launched a massive rocket attack on southern and central Israel, invaded the countryʼs territory, killed hundreds of civilians, and took hostages.

In mid-January 2025, Israel and Hamas reached an agreement on a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages. In the first phase of the agreement, Hamas pledged to release 33 Israeli hostages, while Israel pledged to release more than 1 900 Palestinian prisoners and begin withdrawing troops from the Gaza Strip. On March 2, Israel agreed to temporarily extend the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, a transitional period after the end of the first phase, as the parties have not yet been able to agree on how to proceed.

On the night of March 18, Israel resumed hostilities in the Gaza Strip after a two-month ceasefire. The strikes killed the de facto prime minister of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip Isaam Daalis and four other senior Hamas officials.

Israel has placed responsibility for the resumption of hostilities on Hamas — the militants allegedly rejected all proposals to extend the ceasefire. Therefore, any further negotiations with Hamas, if they are held at all, will only be "under fire" — that is, Israel refuses a ceasefire as a condition for starting new negotiations.

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