Germany has not yet decided whether to support EU sanctions on Israel: Chancellor Merz

BERLIN

Germany is concerned about Israel's massive military offensive in Gaza but hasn't yet decided whether to support proposed EU sanctions, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Madrid after their meeting, Merz said while both EU members share concerns about civilian suffering in Gaza, they differ on approaches to potential sanctions against Israel.

"As Germany, we also do not share the Israeli government's assessment that it can achieve its goal of permanently eliminating Hamas through these actions. We share the criticism of these actions, but we do not share the description of these actions as genocide," Merz told reporters.

The conservative leader emphasized that Germany views Israel's military actions as "disproportionate" and continues diplomatic efforts to increase humanitarian aid access to Gaza. Merz also mentioned his decision several weeks ago to halt approval of new weapons exports to Israel that might be used in Gaza.

“Not only do I still believe this decision was the right one, but developments over the last few days have also confirmed my belief that this is the case,” he said, referring to the high civilian death toll during Israel's ground offensive in Gaza City.

When asked about Germany's position on the EU Commission's proposed sanctions against the Israeli government—including the suspension of the EU-Israel trade agreement and sanctions on extremist Israeli ministers—Chancellor Merz stated that his government has not yet reached a decision.

“We will reach a final opinion within the German coalition government on these issues in the next few days,” Merz said, adding that all party leaders and Cabinet ministers will be in Berlin next week for the parliament sessions. “This means that we will also discuss these issues again at the Cabinet level next week. And I assume that we will then have a position in the informal EU Council meeting on Oct. 1 in Copenhagen,” he added.