BERLIN, Germany — Germany’s highest court on Thursday threw out a case brought by a Palestinian civilian from Gaza who sought to sue the German government over its weapons exports to Israel.
The complainant in the arms case, who was supported by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), had been seeking to challenge export licenses for German parts used in Israeli tanks deployed in Gaza.
Berlin, a strong ally of Israel, nevertheless imposed a partial arms embargo on Israel last August, but then lifted it after a ceasefire deal was reached in October. The speaker of Germany’s lower house of parliament, visiting the Strip on Tuesday, urged that the larger plan for Gaza be advanced beyond the current truce.
The complainant in the arms case, after it was rejected by lower courts in 2024 and 2025, appealed to the Federal Constitutional Court.
But the court in Karlsruhe dismissed the case, stating that “the complainant has not sufficiently substantiated that the specialized courts misjudged or arbitrarily denied a possible duty to protect him.”
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While Germany is obliged to protect human rights and respect international humanitarian law, this does not mean the state is necessarily obliged to take specific action on behalf of individuals, the court said.
“It is fundamentally the responsibility of the state authorities themselves to decide how they fulfill their general duty of protection,” it added.
Israeli tanks at a staging area near the border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025. (AP/Ohad Zwigenberg)
The ECCHR called the decision “a setback for civilian access to justice.”
“The court acknowledges the duty to protect but only in the abstract and refuses to ensure its practical enforcement,” said Alexander Schwarz, co-director of the organization’s International Crimes and Legal Accountability program.
“For people whose lives are endangered by the consequences of German arms exports, access to justice remains effectively closed,” he said.
The ECCHR had been hoping for a successful appeal after the Constitutional Court ruled last year that Germany had “a general duty to protect fundamental human rights and the core norms of international humanitarian law, even in cases involving foreign countries.” In that case, two Yemenis had been seeking to sue Berlin over the role of the US Ramstein airbase in a 2012 drone attack.
The complainant was one of five Palestinians who initially brought their case against the German government in 2024.
Bundestag speaker visits IDF-controlled part of Gaza
Julia Kloeckner — the speaker of Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag — briefly visited the Israeli-controlled part of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, the Bundestag told AFP.
Her trip came a day after visiting the Knesset, where she was warmly received by Speaker Amir Ohana.
President of the German Bundestag Julia Kloeckner meets with Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana during a welcome ceremony at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, February 11, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The German lawmaker spent about an hour in the IDF-controlled part of Gaza, according to the Bundestag, becoming the first German official to visit the territory since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel that sparked the devastating war.
Since that attack, amid the subsequent war, Israel has drastically restricted access to the densely populated coastal strip.
In a statement shared by her office, Kloeckner said it was essential for politicians to have access to “reliable assessments of the situation” in Gaza.
“I expressly welcome the fact that Israel has now, for the first time, granted me, a parliamentary observer, access to the Gaza Strip,” she said.
However, she was only able to gain a “limited insight” into the situation on the ground during her trip, she said.
Kloeckner appealed to Israel to “continue on this path of openness” and emphasized that the so-called Yellow Line must “not become a permanent barrier.”
The Yellow Line, set out in the October ceasefire deal, separates the just-over-half of Gaza that’s controlled by the Israeli military from the rest, which is de facto ruled by Hamas.
A yellow concrete block demarcating the Yellow Line, the line of ceasefire, east of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, November 2, 2025 (Fathi Ibrahim/Flash90)
Contacted by AFP, the German foreign ministry said it would “not comment on travel plans or trips by other constitutional bodies that wish to assess the situation on the ground.”
Germany has been one of Israel’s staunchest supporters as the European power seeks to atone for the legacy of the Holocaust.
But in recent months, Chancellor Friedrich Merz has occasionally delivered sharp critiques of Israeli policy as German public opinion turns against Israel’s actions in Gaza.
In August, Germany imposed a partial arms embargo on Israel, which was lifted in November after the announcement of what has proved to be a fragile ceasefire for Gaza.
Merz visited Israel in December and reaffirmed Germany’s support.
But in a sign of lingering tension, Germany’s foreign ministry on Wednesday criticized Israeli plans to tighten control over the West Bank as a step toward “de facto annexation.”
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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