New licences for the export of “weapons of war” to Israel have been put on hold by Germany pending legal challenges, according to an exclusive report from Reuters.
Citing data from Germany’s economy ministry and a source close to it, licences for “weapons of war” to Israel amounted to just $36,150 in 2024 and total arms exports dropped to $16.1m.
In 2023, arms exports including military equipment and weapons of war totalled $363.5m – which was a 10-fold increase from 2022.
According to the report, Germany “had stopped work on approving export licences for arms to Israel pending a resolution of legal cases arguing that such exports from Germany breached humanitarian law”.
Germany currently faces two cases in international courts, one at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and one brought by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR).
In March this year, Nicaragua formally submitted an application at the ICJ against Germany, accusing the country of both failing to prevent a genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and also of having “contributed to the commission of genocide”.
In its request, Nicaragua asked the ICJ to declare that Germany had failed to uphold its obligations under the Genocide Convention to prevent genocide in Gaza, by providing support to Israel and by cutting funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (Unrwa).
The application asks the court to “adjudge and declare” that Germany has violated international humanitarian law, including its obligations under the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977.
During a two-day hearing, Nicaragua accused Germany of “facilitating the commission of genocide”, demanding the court impose emergency measures to halt German arms exports to Israel and reinstate funding for Unrwa.
Germany rejected the charges but the ICJ rejected the German request to throw out the Nicaraguan case.
The ECCHR filed a lawsuit in Berlin in April this year looking to suspend export licences issued by the German government for arms shipments to Israel.
The suit is on behalf of five Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip whose family members were killed during Israeli rocket attacks.
In their defence against the ECCHR lawsuit, a source told Reuters it had not exported any “weapons of war” under any licence to Israel since the 7 October Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel, aside from spare parts for long-term contracts.
Ripple effect
No verdict has been reached in the ICJ case but the legal challenges have had a ripple effect across Europe.
In early September, the UK suspended 30 arms export licences to Israel following a review under the new Labour government which found that British-made weapons may have been used in violation of international humanitarian law in Gaza.
The suspension, announced by Foreign Secretary David Lammy in parliament, covers components for other types of military aircraft, including fighter planes, helicopters and drones. Around 320 other licences, including for items for civilian use, remain in place.
In February, a court in the Netherlands ordered the country to stop all exports of components for the F-35 fighter jets over concerns they could be used against civilians in Gaza.
Another legal challenge that has caused friction between US allies has been the International Criminal Court’s attempt to seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
In July Middle East Eye reported that the US was lobbying the UK’s new Labour government not to drop a legal challenge against the International Criminal Court in seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister.
The Labour government so far has decided not to drop its legal objection but it did proceed with restricting arms sales to its ally Israel.
