Back in November, Israel asked Germany to supply its military with thousands of rounds of 120-millimeter precision ammunition to fuel the war in Gaza. Germany has since responded in the affirmative.
According to reports, German government officials have "fundamentally agreed behind the scenes" to send Israel all the tank shells it requested as the latest death toll numbers in Gaza reach 25,000.
"German defense companies were not in a position to deliver the requested ammunition in a short period of time, and the ministries have started on a plan to provide this ammunition from the German army's own stocks," reports explain.
Once the ammunition gets sent, it will mark the first public arms delivery from Berlin to Tel Aviv since the beginning of Israel's ethnic cleansing campaign in Gaza. Up until now, Germany has primarily sent "medical supplies and protective equipment" to Israel.
"Both sides have agreed to keep quiet about the request to send lethal weapons because Israel does not want to allow any conclusions to be drawn about its military capabilities," reports further explain.
Hamas blasts Germany for becoming Israel's "direct partner"
Following the news, Hamas condemned Germany for siding with Israel in clearing out the Gaza Strip of the millions of Palestinian people who live there.
"It seems Germany is reproducing its history full of sins against humanity," Hamas said in a statement, noting that Germany's sending of tank shells to Israel makes the country a "direct partner in the war on our people in Gaza."
"It is undeterred from the lessons of the recent past."
Germany also announced that it will intervene on Israel's behalf as a third party in the genocide case brought by South Africa to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
"Germany has chosen to defend in the ICJ the genocidal and gruesome acts of the Israeli government against innocent civilians in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian Territories," stated Hage Geingob, the president of Namibia, in a social media post, reminding Germany of the atrocities it committed against the indigenous Herero and Nama people groups in Namibia.
"On Namibian soil, Germany committed the first genocide of the 20th century in 1904-1908, in which tens of thousands of innocent Namibians died in the most inhumane and brutal conditions. The German Government is yet to fully atone for the genocide it committed."
Geingob would add that Germany cannot morally express commitment
to the United Nations Convention against genocide, including atoning for
its genocide in Namibia, while at the same time "supporting the
equivalent of a holocaust and genocide in Gaza."
Namibia rejects Germany’s Support of the Genocidal Intent of the Racist Israeli State against Innocent Civilians in Gaza
— Namibian Presidency (@NamPresidency) January 13, 2024
On Namibian soil, #Germany committed the first genocide of the 20th century in 1904-1908, in which tens of thousands of innocent Namibians died in the most… pic.twitter.com/ZxwWxLv8yt
Keep in mind that of the nearly 25,000 Palestinian people who have been killed by Israel since the start of the war, nearly two-thirds of them were women and children.
"No peace-loving human being can ignore the carnage waged against Palestinians in Gaza," Geingob stated back in late December, appealing to the German government to reconsider its untimely decision to intervene as a third party in defense of Israel's genocidal acts in Gaza.
"Various international organizations, such as Human Rights Watch have chillingly concluded that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza," the Namibian Presidency X (formerly Twitter) account tweeted.