A Palestinian feeds a child with lentil soup, in the Drajor neighborhood in the city of Gaza, on August 3, 2025. Photo: Omar al-Qattaa / AFP / Profimedia
A high parliamentarian from the coalition of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday that Berlin should consider sanctions against Israel, including partial suspension of weapon exports or the suspension of political agreement at the European Union, Reuters reports.
The call of Siemtje Moeller, the vice-president of the parliamentary group of the Social Democrats (SPD), reflects a tightening of Berlin rhetoric against Israel, who has not yet led to major policy changes.
Moeller, whose party, SPD, joined the Coalition of Merz's Conservatives this year, sent a letter to the Social-Democratic MPs after returning from a visit to Israel last week with Foreign Minister Johann Wadeph.
“In my opinion, the Israeli government will not do much without pressure. If such concrete improvements will not materialize in the near future, there will be consequences,” she said, in the letter seen by the Reuters Agency.
The recognition of a Palestinian state should not be “taboo,” she said, adding that the Israeli statements that there are no restrictions on the humanitarian aid for the Gaza strip are not convincing.
At the same time, Moeller demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Hamas still held in Gaza. She said that the Palestinian militant group should not play a role in the political future. Hamas “must be disarmed, his regime of terror must end,” the German parliamentarian pointed out.
Western countries have intensified their efforts to exert pressure on Israel, UK, Canada and France, signaling that they are ready to recognize, at the General Assembly of September, a Palestinian state in Israel.
Israel criticized France, UK and Canada, saying their decision will reward Hamas.
Critics claim, however, that Germany's response remains overly prudent, shaped by a durable feeling of historical guilt for the Holocaust and reinforced by Proisraelian feelings in influential media circles, which weakens the collective ability of the West to exert significant pressure on Israel.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas killed over 1,200 people and took 251 hostages in a cross-border assault on southern Israel, on October 7, 2023, according to the Israeli balance sheet.
The air and terrestrial war of Israel in Gaza, a densely populated area, has since killed over 60,000 Palestinians, according to the enclosure health officials. An increasing number of civilians die of hunger and malnutrition, say the health authorities in Gaza, and images with hungry children shock the world and intensify critics of Israel for restrictions imposed on humanitarian aid.
Israel blames Hamas for the sufferings in Gaza, but, in response to increasing international protests, last week announced measures to allow access to a greater amount of aid to the population, including suspension of struggles, at a certain time interval, in some areas, approval of the aid and announcement for some protection of these protection. enclave.
Israel takes into account the extension of the offensive in Gaza. Netanyahu will announce this week the decision on the Directorate of Military Operation
