Grapevine

Germany has stopped approving war weapons exports to Israel: Report

Germany has put a hold on new exports of weapons of war to Israel while it deals with legal challenges, according to the Reuters news agency.

A source close to the Ministry of Economy cited a senior government official as saying it had stopped work on approving export licences for arms to Israel due to legal and political pressure from legal cases arguing that such exports from Germany breached humanitarian law.

The ministry has not responded to requests for comment. However, the German government did issue a statement after the Reuters story was published.

“There is no German arms export boycott against Israel,” government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said.

Last year, Germany approved arms exports to Israel worth 326.5 million euros ($363.5m), including military equipment and war weapons, a 10-fold increase from 2022, according to data from the Economy Ministry, which approves export licences.