German government backs Jerusalem, announces new military shipments to Israel

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced Thursday that his government intends to continue military shipments to Israel. The Social Democrat confirmed that a new package of military aid for the Israeli forces will be sent soon.

"We have not decided not to supply weapons. We have supplied weapons and we will supply weapons," Scholz told Parliament at an event to commemorate the victims of the October 7 Hamas attack. Scholz's announcement comes after a significant drop in military aid this year, which led to suspicions that Berlin was deliberately delaying exports.

The German government's announcement also comes nearly two weeks after the Israel Defense Forces definitively launched its military invasion of southern Lebanon. The IDF claims it is conducting a limited operation to combat the Hezbollah terrorist group in the south of the country.

The Shiite militia attacked Israel following Palestinian attacks on October 7 with almost daily rocket fire on the border region shared by Israel and Lebanon. As a result, some 70,000 civilians evacuated northern Israel, a major political pressure point for Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

As a consequence of this border escalation, Israel conducted a series of operations to dismantle Hezbollah's leadership and carried out operations in southern Lebanon, in addition to heavy bombardments in other parts of the country, including the capital, Beirut.

German approvals for arms exports to Israel have fallen sharply this year, with just $15.85 million granted between January and Aug. 21, according to data provided by the Economy Ministry and reported by Reuters. Last year, there were $357 million in exports.

Regarding this significant reduction in the amount of German exports, Scholz's administration assured that it is in no way due to political reasons or any form of boycott.