Germany has authorised approaching €100 million in military exports to Israel in the past three months, foreign ministry data has shown.
That has coincided with the latest legal challenge by human rights groups concerned about the potential use of these weapons in the Gaza war.
The data revealed on October 24 showed Germany has approved €94,052,394 in arms exports to Israel since August 2024, according to a government response to a parliamentary enquiry by left-wing Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) politician Sevim Dagdelen.
The new permits followed a significant drop in arms exports to Israel in the first half of this year.
The European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) said on October 24 it had filed an appeal at the Frankfurt Administrative Court on behalf of a Gazan resident, seeking to halt further arms exports.
The appeal stated German weapons were contributing to civilian harm in Gaza. The plaintiff, a Gazan resident who lost his wife and daughter in Israeli airstrikes, said ongoing arms shipments have placed his life and the lives of others in danger, calling on Germany to stop facilitating such transfers.
The action aimed at Germany’s Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA), the German Government body responsible for such approval, focuses on the country’s approval of military exports that could be used in the conflict, the ECCHR said. Those included tank parts from German defence firm Renk Group, which supplies components for Israel’s Merkava tanks.
Renk Group was not immediately available for comment on the case.
Germany’s economy ministry was not immediately available for comment on the new case.
The government has previously said it examined each arms export individually and took a number of factors into account, including human rights and humanitarian law.
The ECCHR said Germany’s exports violated international law, citing the Arms Trade Treaty, which prohibits arms transfers if there is a significant risk they would be used to commit war crimes.
Earlier in october, German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock stated that Berlin was awaiting a formal assurance from Israel that German-supplied military equipment would be used in compliance with international humanitarian law.
Legal challenges across Europe have also led other allies of Israel to pause or suspend arms exports but no case challenging German arms exports to Israel has yet succeeded.
Nearly 43,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s year-old military offensive, according to Gaza health officials.
Israel’s campaign was triggered by the October 7, 2023 attack by terrorist group Hamas in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
