Germany will lift the partial arms embargo it imposed on Israel during the war on Hamas in Gaza, a government spokesman said on Monday.
“The government welcomes the ceasefire in Gaza that came into effect on October 10 and which has stabilized in recent weeks,” said spokesman Stefan Kornelius, according to the local Deutsche Welle outlet.
“The government is returning to examining on a case-by-case basis the export of weapons and will react to further developments,” he added.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar welcomed Berlin’s decision to reverse course, calling on other countries “to adopt similar decision.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced the ban on exporting “offensive” weapons to the Jewish state on Aug. 8, hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet voted to expand the Israel Defense Forces’ operations against the Hamas terror group.
“The Federal government will, until further notice, withhold approval for the export of any military equipment that could be used in the Gaza Strip,” the German chancellor said in a press release at the time.
Merz claimed that Jerusalem’s decision to intensify the war had made it “increasingly difficult” to pursue Berlin’s “highest priorities” to release the remaining hostages held by Hamas and reach a ceasefire in Gaza.
