Hunger in Gaza—made in Germany

Suddenly, they are everywhere: images of emaciated children with empty stares and gaunt faces. Photos from the Gaza Strip are finally finding their way to the German public—not only on Twitter, but in major daily newspapers and broadcasts.

The hunger in Gaza is catastrophic. But this is nothing new. For months, in fact, over a year and a half, the UN and aid organisations have been sounding the alarm. As early as the beginning of 2024, hundreds of thousands in Gaza were suffering from "catastrophic hunger", the highest warning level on the IPC index for food insecurity. Even back then, there were deadly stampedes as desperate people rushed aid convoys. 

In Germany, this was not taken seriously. Instead, the German government supported Israel's policy of starvation by continuing to supply weapons and making it clear: there will be no real consequences. Nothing has changed to this day. Hunger in Gaza–made in Germany. Germany is now as internationally well known for this as it is for BMW and Bayern Munich. 

The German debate

What's less internationally known is that there is an increasingly heated debate in Germany, and the critical voices are getting louder. Last week, the SPD parliamentary group, junior partner in the governing coalition, called for an end to the war and the suspension of the EU Association Agreement with Israel. There is no longer any "room for political interpretation", they said. 

Even within the CDU-led Foreign Ministry, protest is mounting: around 130 mostly younger diplomats have joined forces to push their boss, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, toward a tougher stance—an unusual development. "Rebellion in the foreign office", wrote Der Spiegel. 

Much of the German public has also come to realise—particularly after Trump's grotesque statement about turning Gaza into the "Riviera of the Middle East", and the nearly three-month total blockade of Gaza between February and May—just who they are dealing with in the US president and his ally Netanyahu.

This war stopped being about defence long ago. Or does anyone still really believe that the goals of this war—the destruction of Hamas and the liberation of the Israeli hostages—can be achieved by these means? 

So far, this shift in thinking has had no tangible consequences in Germany. Like the Scholz government before it, the current administration is behaving like a dog that doesn't know whether to run after its master or its mistress: on one side, a misguided sense of blind solidarity in the name of Staatsräson (reason of state); on the other, an aimless war with tens of thousands of deaths and a deliberately engineered hunger crisis. 

Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Foreign Minister Wadephul have already been using surprisingly critical language. Merz has repeatedly called Israel’s actions "unacceptable." Wadephul said last week that the "dying" is "unbearable."

Any government that comes to such a conclusion must act. The Israeli army's recent announcement that it will implement humanitarian pauses in parts of the coastal region is positive, but it must mark the beginning of the definitive end of the policy of starvation. 

A lever that must be pulled

The German government must impose a halt to arms exports for as long as the starvation and senseless killing continue. In Israel, arms imports from Germany make up around 30% of all imported weapons; Germany is the second-largest arms supplier to the far-right government in Jerusalem. So, this lever is not a small one. 

Berlin should pair this long-overdue step with clear and swiftly actionable demands, above all for long-term unrestricted access to humanitarian aid in Gaza. One must hope that a conservative, CDU-led government will find it easier to take concrete action than its centre-left predecessor. After all, it was also a CDU chancellor who brought about Germany's nuclear phase-out. 

We need an exit from this war and to exert pressure to ensure that all parties find a way out. That would also be the only real chance of rescuing the remaining Israeli hostages from Hamas captivity. The war in the Middle East may be complex, but understanding that starving children—right on Europe's doorstep—are not just "collateral damage" is simple. What's happening in Gaza is a man-made humanitarian catastrophe, and Germany bears a significant share of the responsibility.