German Minister Says Future Arms Deliveries to Israel Depend on Gaza Situation

Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Friday, May 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Friday, May 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
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German Minister Says Future Arms Deliveries to Israel Depend on Gaza Situation

Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Friday, May 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Friday, May 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Germany will decide whether or not to approve new weapons shipments to Israel based on an assessment of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said in an interview published on Friday.

According to Reuters, Wadephul questioned whether Israel's actions in its war with Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza were in line with international law.

"We are examining this and, if necessary, we will authorise further arms deliveries based on this examination," he said in an interview with Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

The comments build on a shifting tone from Berlin and mounting international criticism of Israel in recent days as the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza after an Israeli aid blockade and mounting civilian deaths test German support.

Wadephul said it was important that Israel can defend itself given the threats it faces, including from Houthi militants, Hezbollah and Iran.

"For me, there is no question that we have a special responsibility to stand by Israel's side," he said, reiterating the principle of "Staatsraeson" which underpins German support for Israel in atonement for the Holocaust of World War Two.

"On the other hand, of course, this does not mean that a government can do whatever it wants," he said.

Three months into the war, South Africa filed a case to the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed the accusations as outrageous.

Israel's aid blockade of Gaza, which began after the breakdown of a ceasefire in early March, has also been contested at the World Court. Half a million people in the Gaza Strip face starvation, a global hunger monitor said in mid-May.

Netanyahu has dismissed charges that Israel was deliberately causing starvation in Gaza by imposing the 11-week blockade that was relaxed last week after mounting pressure from close allies.

On Tuesday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said airstrikes on Gaza were no longer justified by the need to fight Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 assault on Israel killed some 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and triggered the war.

More than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's air and ground campaign, according to Gaza health authorities.



Sudan’s Prime Minister Vows to ‘Eliminate Rebellion’

Sudan army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan attends former UN official Kamil Idris swearing-in ceremony, as Sudan's new prime minister, in Port Sudan, Sudan, May 31, 2025. Sudan Transitional Sovereignty Council/Handout via REUTERS
Sudan army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan attends former UN official Kamil Idris swearing-in ceremony, as Sudan's new prime minister, in Port Sudan, Sudan, May 31, 2025. Sudan Transitional Sovereignty Council/Handout via REUTERS
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Sudan’s Prime Minister Vows to ‘Eliminate Rebellion’

Sudan army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan attends former UN official Kamil Idris swearing-in ceremony, as Sudan's new prime minister, in Port Sudan, Sudan, May 31, 2025. Sudan Transitional Sovereignty Council/Handout via REUTERS
Sudan army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan attends former UN official Kamil Idris swearing-in ceremony, as Sudan's new prime minister, in Port Sudan, Sudan, May 31, 2025. Sudan Transitional Sovereignty Council/Handout via REUTERS

Sudan’s newly appointed Prime Minister, Kamel Idris, pledged to “completely eliminate the rebellion and all forms of rebel militias, and safeguard Sudan’s national security,” while announcing the dissolution of the current government.

On Sunday, Idris informed ministers in a meeting of the government’s dissolution and assigned the secretaries-general and deputy ministers to manage affairs until a new government is formed.

He urged countries supporting the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to stop, calling for what he termed a “comprehensive national healing campaign.” He said he would adopt an inclusive intra-Sudanese dialogue that excludes no one and rejects regionalism and racism “after eliminating the rebellion.”

In his first address to the Sudanese people following his swearing-in on Saturday, Idris said his priorities begin with national security, restoring the state’s prestige, completely ending the ongoing rebellion, and dismantling the phenomenon of rebel militias. He promised to establish a rule of law that includes the prosecution, judiciary, constitutional court, maintaining security, and managing the transitional period and the executive apparatus efficiently and successfully to achieve security and stability in the country.

Idris added that he would work on rebuilding Sudan’s foreign relations, especially with neighboring countries and the wider Arab and African regions, as well as with all countries globally.

The Sovereignty Council chairman and army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, issued a decree on May 19 appointing Idris as prime minister, filling a position left vacant since the resignation of former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

Hamdok resigned following the October 25, 2021 coup led by Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as “Hemedti,” against the civilian government that was formed after the popular uprising which overthrew former President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. This government was often referred to as the “revolution government.”

Idris, who took his oath on Saturday, previously served as Director-General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Secretary-General of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants. He also ran against former President Omar al-Bashir in the 2010 presidential elections, receiving around 77,000 votes out of over 10 million voters.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, three drones struck locations affiliated with the Rapid Support Forces in western Sudan, according to eyewitnesses.

Residents reported that the airstrikes hit the center of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, targeting a hotel, an RSF medical unit, and RSF positions on the city’s eastern outskirts.

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