“Officials in the German Government have openly and repeatedly boasted about their unconditional and unlimited support for Israel. We seek to hold them accountable.”
A group of lawyers filed a criminal complaint against German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and key government officials and arms trade executives on Friday, accusing them of aiding and abetting Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
“Officials in the German Government have openly and repeatedly boasted about their unconditional and unlimited support for Israel. Given the undeniable, genocidal consequences of this support, – we seek to hold them accountable,” Nadija Samour, Senior Legal Officer at the European Legal Support Center (ELSC), said.
The charges were filed at the Office of the Federal Prosecutor against eleven high-ranking officials of the former and current German government and CEOs of arms manufacturers, the lawyers said in a press statement.
These include the former Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, former Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock, former Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Robert Habeck, current Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz, current Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Katherina Reiche, as well as Federal Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius.
In addition, Dr. Jörg Stratmann, CEO of Rolls-Royce Solutions GmbH, Michael Humbek, CEO of Dynamit Nobel Defence GmbH, and Dr. Alexander Sagel and Susanne Wiegand, current and former CEOs of RENK Group AG.
The complaint, announced at a press briefing, was filed by a collective of lawyers in Berlin with the support of the European Legal Support Center (ELSC), Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy (PIPD) and Law for Palestine.
The lawyers said in the press statement that the Federal Prosecutor “must respect the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and initiate investigations on potential crimes if sufficient grounds for suspicion are apparent.”
The complaint provides more than 100 pages “of extensive evidence for the predicate crimes under the Code of Crimes against International Law (CCAIL) namely the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes committed by Israel,” the statement said.
Furthermore, the complaint “provides extensive evidence for aiding and abetting acts of genocide by German officials through the approval of arms deliveries.”
German arms exports to Israel increased tenfold since 2023 and amounted to about half a billion euros (485.103.796 €) in total, the statement noted.
It pointed out that in August 2025, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced that his government had stopped issuing new export licences for weapons that could be used in Gaza “until further notice”.
However, the statement added, existing licences are still being fulfilled, “and new licences continue to be approved for arms allegedly not intended for use in Gaza, but effectively still contributing to the killing of civilians in Palestine and the wider region.
“The Chancellor did not specify how Germany would be able to control where and how those weapons could be used,” it noted.
The criminal complaint specifies several weapon systems which were used by the Israeli army in Gaza, including combat drones (Heron TP), warships (Sa´ar 6-class corvette) and various kinds of ammunition (incl. 120 mm tank ammunition) and mechanical parts.
Germany has also delivered an abundance of the handheld anti-tank weapon “Matador”. It has since become a TikTok trend among Israeli soldiers to film themselves firing those weapons at residential buildings to destroy Palestinian homes for fun, the statement said.
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“The German Federal Public Prosecutor must open an investigation to uphold the rule of law and the integrity of his office. Otherwise, Germany is effectively admitting that its federal prosecution system employs double standards and undermines the purpose of the office,” Benjamin Düsberg, from the lawyer’s collective, said. “Since filing our first case in 2024, we have compiled overwhelming evidence that cannot be ignored or dismissed.”
Friday’s complaint comes days after the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Palestine found that Israel has committed four acts of genocide, defined under the Genocide Convention, against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the statement said.
“The German Federal Prosecutor can no longer shield its ruling elite from accountability and the rule of law,” the lawyers said. “German officials can’t hide behind distorted legal reasoning while denying the mounting evidence for genocide committed with German arms. The time for accountability is now.”
Starting on October 7, 2023, the Israeli military, with American support, launched a genocidal war against the people of Gaza. This campaign has so far resulted in the deaths of more than 65,000 Palestinians, with more than 165,000 wounded. The vast majority of the population has been displaced, and the destruction of infrastructure is unprecedented since World War II. Thousands of people are still missing.
(PC, Anadolu)