Germany disapproves war weapons exports to Israel since March

The German government has not approved any war weapons exports to Israel since March, according to answers, seen by dpa, to a parliamentary inquiry made by a member of the new Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) party, reported Xinhua.

War weapons are explicitly designed for warfare, such as rifles, rockets, warships, bombs or ammunition. The BSW strongly opposes weapons exports to Israel.

The centre-left coalition government, led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a Social Democrat, approved the delivery of war weapons worth €32,449 between the beginning of the year and August 21, according to the information.

But the approvals came in January for €30,449 and February for €2,000.

The information came from responses provided by the Economy Ministry to inquiries made by Bundestag BSW member Sevim Dağdelen.

Since the beginning of the year, Scholz's government approved the delivery of "other military equipment" worth €14.42 million to Israel. This can include helmets, protective vests or unarmed vehicles. The data from the Economy Ministry is based on responses to Dağdelen's inquiries from September 10 and April 9.

In recent months, the German government has repeatedly emphasized that it decides on war weapon exports to Israel on a case-by-case basis and that there is no general export ban.

Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit reaffirmed this stance on Wednesday evening, saying: "There is no German weapons export boycott against Israel."

Dağdelen is calling for a complete halt to arms exports to Israel. "To end the killing in Gaza, the centre-left coalition must completely stop its arms exports to the partly far-right Netanyahu government," she said.