By Siobhan Robbins, Europe correspondent
As some in the EU decisively condemned the strikes at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, the German chancellor struck a more cautious tone.
“The Israeli army and the Israeli government have both promised to launch a comprehensive investigation into this incident,” Friedrich Merz said.
“And I would like to wait for the results of this investigation before making a final judgment.”
Few in Germany will have been surprised by this position – many will support it.
Germany is traditionally one of Israel’s strongest international backers and has often avoided the harsh criticism and tougher tones against Israel’s government taken by some of its European allies.
It’s a loyalty that’s rooted in history.
Germany, due to its Nazi past and historic responsibility for the Holocaust, has long had a “special relationship” with Israel and has been one of its staunchest supporters over the years.
This “special relationship” has also meant Germany hasn’t joined other allies like the UK, France and Canada in pledging to formally recognise a Palestinian state.
“We will not join the initiative for the recognition of a Palestinian state,” Merz reiterated at a joint news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Berlin today.
“The Canadian government and the Canadian prime minister are aware of the federal government’s position on a possible recognition of Palestine as a state. We will not join such an initiative,” Merz stressed.
Despite this close relationship, the situation in Gaza has forced Germany to subtly make its red lines clear.
Earlier this month, Merz faced backlash from his own ranks after announcing Germany would not authorise any exports of military equipment that could be used in Gaza “until further notice”.
The announcement is significant and took many by surprise.
After the United States, Germany is one of the main exporters of weapons to Israel.
In 2023, it approved arms exports worth €326.5m, including military equipment and war weapons, according to reports by Reuters based on data from the economy ministry.
Last year, the approvals halved to €161m, coinciding with a legal challenge by human rights groups concerned about the potential use of German weapons in the Gaza war.
While some of his junior coalition partners from the Social Democrat party (SPD) applauded the partial freeze, some of his conservative colleagues were outraged.
After the announcement, Merz defended his decision in an interview with the public broadcaster, ARD, saying “the principles of German policy toward Israel remain unchanged… But we cannot supply weapons to a conflict that is being attempted to be resolved exclusively by military means, which could claim hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties.”
After a tense few weeks at home, this time the chancellor has decided to wait to see the results of the investigation before passing comments.
