German court blocks arms exports to Israel

A German citizen who was naturalized and his father in Gaza were attempting to obtain a court order to halt German arms exports to Israel. T...

A German citizen who was naturalized and his father in Gaza were attempting to obtain a court order to halt German arms exports to Israel. The cases were dismissed on procedural grounds, partly due to the unstable ceasefire in Gaza.

The Berlin Administrative Court on Wednesday dismissed two appeals aimed at stopping German arms exports to Israel on procedural grounds.

The lawsuits were submitted by a number of Palestinians:one from a naturalized German citizen and the other from his father inGaza and other co-plaintiffs.

The primary objective of the appeals was to stop any further arms exports until the ceasefire and peace negotiations in the Middle East are finalized, and to declare a previously issued weapons export permit by the German government for the shipment of 3,000 portable anti-tank weapons as invalid.

The plaintiffs claimed that the government's authorization of the exports violates Germany's obligations under international humanitarian law.

Court declares cases invalid due to changing conditions

The court stated in a press release issued on Wednesday evening that both cases were dismissed due to procedural reasons.

It mentioned that the preventive action the plaintiffs were requesting would have necessitated a scenario in which it was probable that Germany would sell arms to Israel in violation of its human rights law obligations in the near future.

That is not currently anticipated," the court stated. "The federal government has explicitly modified its approval policy regarding the delivery of military weapons to Israel.

Another legal action, which originally aimed at revoking the authorization to export anti-tank weapons to Israel that was initially approved in October 2023, was subsequently modified to request a retrospective declaration stating that the export was unlawful.

The court stated that it could only have been approved if there was a tangible risk of the German government behaving similarly once more.

It mentioned that upcoming choices made in Berlin "cannot be accurately forecasted" and also noted that "the circumstances in the Gaza conflict have undergone substantial changes since the end of 2023."

The instances involved multiple previous, unsuccessful efforts to obtain emergency injunctions to halt the arms exports.

The case is being considered in a Berlin municipal court since it is where the government is based. Despite being handled by administrative court personnel, the proceedings were moved to the more secure Moabit Criminal Court for safety reasons.

The physician informed the court that he had treated individuals affected by the devastation.

Among the seven original plaintiffs, one who has passed away, appeared in court personally to give testimony on Wednesday.

The German citizen by naturalization, a doctor, stated that he had been inGazacaring for the injured during the conflict and had witnessed the harm caused by "weapons manufactured in Germany," leveraging the English-language slogan frequently employed by German companies and officials to highlight the quality and widespread appeal of their exports.

He stated that as a pediatrician, he had struggled to save the lives of the injured, "regardless of their skin color, background, faith, or ethnic origin," and emphasized: "I anticipate the same from others."

The presiding judge, Stephan Goscurth, informed the physician that his legal case would not be successful due to the duration of his stay in Germany, after which the individual withdrew the lawsuit. He mentioned he had not anticipated success but wished to explore all possible options.

"I desire to be able to meet my parents' gaze," he stated in court.

A lawyer representing the plaintiffs from Gaza shared their experiences during the conflict with the court. One of them passed away in July at the age of 63 due to an attack in Gaza, Remo Klinger informed the judicial body. The remaining individuals are currently residing in refugee camps and have suffered the loss of multiple family members during the hostilities, according to him.

Germany increased, then reduced arms exports

A group of high-ranking officials from Germany's federal government must individually approve the export of arms to other nations.

After the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered the latest conflict in Gaza, Germany's administration chose to enhance and focus more on the evaluation and authorization of arms exports to Israel.

In August 2025, Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that Germany would temporarily stop granting approval for the export of weapons that might be utilized in Gaza., in response to what he described as a more aggressive stance by Israeli forces during that period. The plaintiffs stated that this commitment was inadequate.

The following month, the government approved the export of military equipment valued at a minimum of €2.46 million (approximately $2.85 million), as revealed in a response to a parliamentary question posed by the opposition Left Party.

That number represents a significant decrease in comparison to arms valued over €250 million that were authorized for export from January 1 to August 8, 2025.

A fragile truce began in Gaza on October 10, yet there have been multiple instances of conflict since that time.

Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko

Author: Mark Hallam (with dpa, sources from Germany)