Germany's Merz calls on Israel to provide aid to Gaza's starving population - War on Gaza

Al-Ahram Weekly

27-07-2025

Germany's chancellor on Sunday called on Israel's prime minister to quickly provide aid to "starving" Palestinians in Gaza, in a phone call between the two leaders.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz "expressed his deep concern about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza," said a government statement.
"He called on Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu to do everything in his power to achieve an immediate ceasefire. He urged him to provide the starving civilian population in Gaza with urgently needed humanitarian aid now. This aid must reach the civilian population quickly, safely, and in the required quantities."
Israel's war on Gaza -- described as genocide by several prominent genocide scholars and numerous aid organisations -- has killed at least 59,821 Palestinians and injured more than 144,851, the majority of them women and children.
The war has been compounded by Israel's blockade on the entry of all humanitarian aid, including food, which has persisted for nearly five months since it was imposed on 2 March.
Israeli occupation forces have killed over 1,000 Palestinians attempting to access food aid in Gaza since a US-Israeli so-called humanitarian foundation, began operations in late May, according to the UN.
The UN and NGOs on the ground have decried the severe scarcity facing Gaza's 2.4 million people, with shortages of food, clean water, medicine and fuel.
More than 100 aid organisations have already warned that "mass starvation" was spreading across the Palestinian territory.
Germany, seeking to atone for the Holocaust, has long been one of Israel's most steadfast supporters.
It is one of the biggest suppliers of weapons to Israel, providing about 30% of Israel's arms imports between 2019 and 2023, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
It ranks second only to the United States, which accounted for over two-thirds (69%) of all arms sold to Israel from abroad during the same period.
Last year, Germany's arms sales to Israel were worth €326.5m ($361m) -- a tenfold increase compared with 2022 -- with the majority of export licences granted after the war on Gaza began in October 2023, according to Germany's federal government.
But as the civilian toll and humanitarian crisis in Gaza have worsened, Germany has recently intensified its subtle criticism of its ally.
The German government has stated that it regards recognition of a Palestinian state as "one of the final steps on the path to achieving a two-state solution."
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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