On April 5, 2024, Berlin-based lawyers, supported by the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy (PIPD), the European Legal Support Center (ELSC) and Law for Palestine (Law4Palestine), within Justice and Accountability for Palestine, are filing an urgent application against the German government to stop the approval of war weapons exports to Israel. The urgent appeal is being filed by Pa- lestinians in Gaza who are demanding an immediate halt to the supply of weapons to Israel. As there is reason to believe that these weapons are being used to commit grave violations of international law, such as the crime of genocide and war crimes, the applicants are hereby demanding that the German government protect their right to life.
In 2023, the German government issued arms exports licenses to Israel worth 326.5 million Euro, the majority of which were approved after October 7, 2023, a tenfold increase compared to 2022. The German government is currently supporting the Israeli army by approving the sup- ply of 3,000 portable anti-tank weapons, 500,000 rounds of ammunition for machine guns, sub- machine guns or other fully or semi-automatic firearms, as well as other military equipment, while in early 2024 Germany was preparing the authorisation of 10,000 rounds of 120mm tank ammunition. In addition, Germany authorised Israel to use two of the five TP-Heron combat drones that they had previously leased. A comprehensive report recently published by Forensis, Forensic Architecture’s Berlin-based affiliate, that brings together governmental records with data from monitoring groups and other initiatives, provides significant additional insights on past, current, and potential future arms exports from Germany to Israel.
As early as February 23, 2024, Palestinians filed criminal charges against members of the Ger- man government for aiding genocide in Gaza. The urgent application is therefore only logical: the arms deliveries and support provided by the Federal Government to Israel violate the Federal Republic’s obligations under the War Weapons Control Act. The criteria for the approval of arms exports include, among other things, that the weapons are not used against Germany’s obligations of the international law, in this case that Israel does not violate human rights and international humanitarian law.
Since the ICJ in its decision of January 26, 2024 already sees evidence of genocide in Gaza, the Lawyers’ Collective believes that the delivery of weapons is contrary to these obligations. A Dutch court of appeal also ruled on February 26, 2024 that the delivery of F-35 spare parts to Israel must be stopped. The aim of the urgent motion is therefore to immediately stop future approvals of weapons of war deliveries to Israel and to revoke approvals that have already been granted.
Contact for press inquiries:
Nadija Samour (languages: German, English, Arabic)
Mail: [email protected]
Anwält:innenkollektiv:
Ahmed Abed (languages: German, English)
Mail: [email protected]
Forensis/Forensic Architecture
Dimitra Andritsou (languages: English, Greek)
Mail: [email protected]
Link to the live stream of the press conference: here
* For any inquiries or further information about this initiative, please feel free to contact the representatives of Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy (PIPD), the European Legal Support Center (ELSC) and Law for Palestine (Law4Palestine).
We cannot do it alone!
Unfortunately, using legal avenues implicates huge financial costs on the solidarity movement – legal fees are infamously sky high, which is why we need you. The fees of our urgent application currently stand at around 10,000 euros. In hopes that these don’t increase, we hope you can chip in and help us reach our goal.
We need the movement to band together and show its strength in numbers to help cover the fees of this monumental legal case. Solidarity is material. We ask you to please consider putting aside whatever amount you’re able to and contribute to the steadfast movement’s efforts to hold Germany accountable.
