The co-leader of Germany’s Left Party, Ines Schwerdtner, has welcomed the decision by Chancellor Friedrich Merz to halt the delivery of certain weapons to Israel, describing the move as “long overdue”. Speaking on Tuesday to broadcasters RTL and ntv, Schwerdtner also urged the German government to formally recognize a Palestinian state.
Schwerdtner asserted that Germany and particularly the federal government, had for too long passively observed events she characterized as war crimes. “Every single weapon that kills civilians in the Gaza Strip is also complicit in the deaths of more people. This should have happened a long time ago” she stated.
She contends that the partial suspension of arms deliveries is insufficient, calling for a complete cessation of weapon transfers to the region. “We need a real arms stop, no more weapons to this war zone that can further promote war crimes and simultaneously, recognition of Palestine. We are far behind on this. Over 140 countries in the international community recognize Palestine as a state and Germany is lagging far behind, becoming complicit in doing nothing to truly promote peace negotiations” Schwerdtner explained.
Furthermore, she called for sanctions to be imposed on ministers within the cabinet of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “If Israeli ministers state their intention to eliminate a country and starve its people, that is a war crime and we must sanction these ministers for it” Schwerdtner stated.
