[Salon] German chancellor says Gaza genocide 'no longer justified'

https://thecradle.co/articles/german-chancellor-says-israels-war-on-gaza-no-longer-justified

German chancellor says Gaza genocide 'no longer justified'

Support for Israel is falling among its traditional European backers amid its current war and ethnic cleansing of Gaza

News Desk 5/26/25

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on 26 May that Israel's recent airstrikes killing hundreds of civilians in Gaza could no longer be “justified” as a fight against Hamas.

“Harming the civilian population to such an extent, as has increasingly been the case in recent days, can no longer be justified as a fight against Hamas terrorism,” Merz toldbroadcaster WDR in a televised interview.

Merz also says he “no longer understands” the Israeli military's objective in Gaza.

“I no longer understand what the Israeli army is doing in the Gaza Strip, with what goal the civilian population is being impacted to such an extent,” he says.

On Monday, Israeli strikes killed at least 52 people in Gaza, including 36 in a school-turned-shelter that was struck during the night, setting their belongings on fire and burning them alive as they slept. Half of those killed were women and children, and 11 members of a single family lost their lives.

Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have stated that their goal is to destroy Gaza and forcibly expel its 2.3 million Palestinians to foreign countries.

The Economist has estimated that the number of trauma deaths in Gaza is between 77,000 and 109,000 people.

Indirect deaths from Israel's destruction of health, water, and other infrastructure, and ongoing siege, would be in addition to these.

Merz said he plans to have a call with Netanyahu this week to tell him “to not overdo it.” Yet he added that for “historical reasons,” Germany would always be more guarded in its criticism of Israel than other EU members.

The German government has been a strong supporter of Israel diplomatically and has made more than $90 billion in payments to Jews who survived World War II, including many who live in Israel.

The Times of Israel noted, however, that the war against Hamas in Gaza “has cast a shadow over relations, with Germany at pains to carefully calibrate its response.”

Merz's statement comes as lawmakers from Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) are calling for an end to the country's weapons exports to Israel, citing concerns over humanitarian law and growing civilian suffering in Gaza.

“German weapons must not be used to spread humanitarian catastrophes and to violate international law,” Adis Ahmetovic, foreign policy spokesperson for the SPD parliamentary group, said in an interview with Der Stern. “That's why we are calling on [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's government to agree to a ceasefire and return to the negotiating table.”

The SPD is the junior partner in Germany's governing coalition led by Chancellor Merz of the conservative CDU, which has strongly backed Israel's war on Gaza, calling it “self-defense.”

Armin Laschet, head of the foreign affairs committee in Germany's Bundestag, told broadcaster ZDF that public condemnations of Israel's actions in Gaza by Western allies have had “zero” effect in curbing the violence or protecting Palestinian lives.

He defended Germany's pro-Israel stance, dismissing last week's joint statement by the UK, Canada, and France as ineffective, arguing that Germany's “quiet diplomacy” is more productive than “pithy slogans.”

On 19 May, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for Israel to end its current offensive and humanitarian blockade on Gaza.

“We will not stand by while the Netanyahu Government pursues these egregious actions. If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response,” the three leaders stated.

In recent months, a consensus has emerged among scholars of genocide that Israel is carrying out a genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, an investigation by the Dutch newspaper NRC revealed.

The paper interviewed seven renowned genocide and Holocaust researchers from six countries, including Israel, who all described Israel's war on Gaza as genocidal.

“Can I name someone whose work I respect who does not think it is genocide? No, there is no counterargument that takes into account all the evidence,” Israeli researcher Raz Segal told NRC.