A team of rights lawyers has filed a lawsuit against German arms exports to Israel, believing that the Israeli military is using the weapons to commit genocide.
A team of lawyers has launched urgent legal action on behalf of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip against the German government to block arms sales to Israel.
The lawsuit, brought by organizations including the European Legal Support Center (ELSC), Palestine Law and the Palestinian Institute for Public Diplomacy (PIPD), is based on the belief that Israeli forces are using weapons to commit genocide. The aim is to prevent arms sales. Gaza.
“Following the findings of the International Court of Justice and the forensic report, Germany is now more obliged than ever to fulfill its international obligation to halt arms exports to Israel. This is what we have been looking for in the meantime,” PIPD said.
The lawyers said in a statement that the arms supplies and support Germany provided to Israel violated the country's obligations under the Arms of War Control Act.
They cited a January order from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering Israel to take steps to prevent acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip, which has been under siege and invasion since October 7. Israel denies allegations of genocide.
“The mere assumption that the weapons were used to commit acts that violate international law is enough to cancel arms exports under the law,” lawyer Ahmed Abed told a news conference in Berlin on Friday.
He said he expected a ruling within two to three weeks.
“Political pressure”
German government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann said she could not comment on whether Germany would suspend arms exports to Israel pending the Berlin trial and verdict.
“The federal government typically inspects each arms export individually and takes into account multiple factors, including human rights and humanitarian law,” he said when asked by reporters about the issue.
International law experts said the case was unlikely to force a halt to such arms exports under administrative law, but could force Berlin to reconsider its position if provided with evidence. .
“We urge the German government to be more transparent and to disclose which weapons it plans to transfer, or which weapons it has actually transferred to Israel,” said Max Mutschler, a senior researcher at the International Center Bonn. “This could increase political pressure,” he said. For conflict research.
Holger Rothbauer, a lawyer who successfully sued arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch over weapons deliveries to Mexico in 2010, said rights groups would have a better chance of success if they filed their case at the ICJ in The Hague. Ta.
“It seems to me that there is a lack of (German) law covering this case,” Rossbauer said. Reuters, added that only parties directly affected by an administrative decision can file a lawsuit to stop it. Rights lawyers said they were acting on behalf of Gazans.
More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 75,750 injured in Israeli military attacks on Gaza since October 7, Gaza's Health Ministry said in an update on Friday.
With the Gaza Strip in ruins and most of its 2.3 million people forced from their homes and dependent on aid to survive, Israel faces growing calls from its allies for an end to the war and for free aid to the enclave. ing. Critics say the government should threaten to withhold military aid if it does not.
Germany was one of Israel's strongest allies, along with the United States, both before and after Israel began the Gaza war.
Last year, Germany approved arms exports to Israel worth 326.5 million euros ($353.7 million), including munitions and weapons of war, 10% more than in 2022, according to Economy Ministry data. It has doubled.
Reuters contributed to this report
