Citing German responsibility for Israel’s security, Scholz offers military aid

Germany has offered military help to Israel and promised to crack down on support for the Hamas terror organization at home following the group’s devastating attack on Israel that killed over a thousand civilians, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday underlining Germany’s historical responsibility for Israel’s security.

War erupted after Hamas’s Saturday massacre, which saw at least 1,500 terrorists cross the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip by land, air and sea, killing about 1,000 people and seizing 150 hostages of all ages under the cover of a deluge of thousands of rockets fired at Israeli towns and cities.

The vast majority of those killed as gunmen seized border communities were civilians — men, women and children. Entire families were executed in their homes and in some locations, the Palestinian terrorists reportedly mutilated their victims.

As of Thursday, the death toll in Israel had swelled to more than 1,300.

Israel has retaliated with artillery and airstrikes, and officials from the Hamas-controlled health ministry estimate more than 1,100 Palestinian have been killed in the ferocious fighting. Israel says it is targeting terrorist infrastructure and all areas where Hamas operates or hide out, while issuing evacuation warnings to civilians in regions it plans to attack.

The German Defense Ministry said it agreed to an Israeli request to use up to two of five Heron TP combat drones that are currently leased by the German military and were already in Israel for the training of German service people. And Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in Brussels that Israel has requested ammunition for warships, a request that will now be discussed.

Scholz told the German parliament that he has asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to inform Germany of any needs, “for example the treatment of wounded.”

“At this moment, there is only one place for Germany — the place at Israel’s side,” he told lawmakers. “Our own history, our responsibility arising from the Holocaust, makes it a perpetual task for us to stand up for the security of the State of Israel.”

Scholz noted that thousands of people have demonstrated in support of Israel in recent days, but said that “there were also other, shameful pictures from Germany last weekend.”

On Saturday, a small group handed out pastries in a Berlin street and dozens of people later demonstrated in celebration of the Hamas attack.

Sickening – Palestinians in Berlin, Germany are handing out sweets, celebrating the murders and kidnappings of Israelis. pic.twitter.com/5PSjclyYLz

— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) October 7, 2023

Scholz said that Germany will issue a formal ban on activity by or in support of Hamas, which is already listed by the European Union as a terror group. He said groups such as Samidoun, which was behind the weekend pastry action, will be banned.

Scholz said there will be “zero tolerance for antisemitism.”

The chancellor also questioned the lack of a clear condemnation of the Hamas attack by the Palestinian Authority and its President Mahmoud Abbas, saying that “their silence is shameful.”

Germany has suspended development aid for the Palestinian areas, though it is keeping up humanitarian help.

Scholz also assailed Iran’s role in the region.

“We have no tangible evidence that Iran gave concrete and operative support to this cowardly attack by Hamas,” he said. “But it is clear to us all that without Iranian support in recent years, Hamas would not have been capable of these unprecedented attacks on Israeli territory.”

Several German citizens were among those kidnapped in Saturday’s attack.