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Germany on Thursday announced a ban on Hamas’s activities and said it would prohibit a pro-Palestinian group that openly celebrated the offensive against Israel.
Berlin has also granted an Israeli request to use two leased drones in its campaign against Hamas, as Germany vows to “stand up” for Israel’s security during the conflict.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz told parliament that anyone who supports Hamas, uses its symbols or burns Israeli flags “is liable to prosecution” and said authorities would “bring anyone who does such things to justice”.
Mr Scholz - who was due to meet the Emir of Qatar on Thursday in a diplomatic flurry also involving talks with Turkey and Egypt - condemned what he called “shameful pictures” of pro-Hamas protests in Germany, some of which involved a pro-Palestinian group called Samidoun.
The interior ministry will issue a decree banning Hamas’s activities in Germany, he said, a step previously taken against Hezbollah in 2020 because it was not possible to prohibit the foreign entity itself.
In addition, an organisation “such as Samidoun, whose members celebrate the most brutal acts of terror in broad daylight, will be banned in Germany,” Mr Scholz said to applause from MPs.
Samidoun ban
Samidoun, which describes itself as a “network of activists” campaigning for the rights of Palestinian prisoners, has used social media to call for protests in Germany “supporting the resistance in Gaza”.
The group, which grew out of a prison hunger strike in 2011, described Saturday’s attacks on Israel as a “resistance rising throughout occupied Palestine, smashing the siege on Gaza”.
It endorsed a statement by another group, the Alternative Palestinian Revolutionary Path Movement, which called on the diaspora and allies abroad to “express their support for the heroic Palestinian resistance”.
Samidoun, which has held talks with members of the European Parliament, has called for the "defeat and overthrow" of the peace process begun by 1993's Oslo Accords.
Israel's government claimed in a 2019 report that Samidoun has a "wide network of ties" with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which the US and EU consider a terrorist group.
Samidoun’s German arm said some protesters had been arrested amid fresh unrest overnight, with Berlin police saying pro-Palestinian demonstrators had gathered despite a ban.
German law allows organisations to be banned if they have criminal aims or defy the constitutional order or the “concept of international understanding”. Mr Scholz said protests celebrating Hamas’s attacks “contradict all the values we are committed to as a country”.
Security has been tightened around Jewish and Israeli institutions in a move “unfortunately necessary” because of anti-Semitic hatred being spread online, he said.
A report by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency in June said Hamas itself was believed to have about 450 supporters in Germany, whose main goal was to gather donations and influence political debate.
Israel-Gaza war latest - in pictures
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At UN headquarters in New York City, Rachel Zeitchik, right, and Jay Zeitchik attend an event for families of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas. AFP -
Palestinians flee from northern Gaza towards the south after the Israeli army demanded the population of more than a million people leave before a ground invasion. AP -
Demonstrators at a rally in support of Palestine face a counter-demonstration in support of Israel near Times Square in New York. EPA -
Palestinians flee from northern Gaza to the south after the Israeli army issued an evacuation warning. AP -
An injured man is rescued from the rubble of a building following an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza Strip. AP -
Mourners take cover as sirens sound during the funeral of Tom Godo, killed during the attack by Hamas militants on the Kibbutz Kisuffim last week, in Kibbutz Naan near Tel Aviv. AFP -
A Palestinian man flashes the victory sign as he and others leave northern Gaza before an expected Israeli ground offensive. AFP -
Palestinians head south with their belongings after being ordered by Israel to leave northern Gaza on Friday. AFP -
Israel ordered more than a million Palestinians to head south within 24 hours. Reuters -
The UN criticised the directive, saying forcing such a large number of people to flee en masse would be catastrophic. Reuters -
Gazans have to travel about 15km if they live in the northernmost part of the strip to reach the area south of the Wadi Gaza. Reuters -
The UN said that more than 423,000 people have already fled their homes in the territory, with a sizeable number making the more than 10km journey on foot. Reuters -
Palestinians with their belongings flee to safer areas in Gaza City. AFP -
An Armoured Personnel Carrier drives near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. Reuters -
Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr gather for mass Friday prayer during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in Baghdad, Iraq. Reuters -
A Palestinian woman waits to cross into Jerusalem's Old City through Damascus Gate next to Israeli soldiers. AFP -
Israeli army infantry fighting vehicles deploy along the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel. AFP -
Israeli soldiers detain a man while on patrol near Kibbutz Beeri, near the Gaza Strip. AFP -
Students hold in a rally in support of Palestine at Columbia University in New York. Getty Images -
Family and friends mourn Valentin Ghnassia, 23, who was killed in a battle with Palestinian militants at Kibbutz Beeri near the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip. Getty Images -
A ball of fire erupts in Gaza city after an Israeli air strike. AFP -
Palestinians inspect the rubble of buildings hit by an Israeli air strike at Al Shati refugee camp. AP -
A fireball erupts from an Israeli air strike in Gaza city. AFP -
People waiting for news of victims outside the morgue at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. AFP -
A girl mourns the death of members of the Samour family, who were killed in Israeli strikes on their house in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters -
Israelis arrive to sign up at a weapons distribution point for people allowed to carry arms, at the Ayyelet HaShahar Kibbutz in northern Israel, near the Lebanese border. AFP -
Mourners outside the morgue at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City as battles between Israel and the Hamas movement continue for a sixth consecutive day. AFP -
Men dig graves to bury members of the Samour family, who were killed in Israeli strikes on their house in Khan Younis. Reuters -
Palestinian children who fled their homes during Israeli strikes, play at a United Nations-run school in Gaza City. Reuters -
Israeli soldiers near a self-propelled howitzer near the border with Gaza in southern Israel. AFP -
Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, left, welcomes US Secretary of State Antony Blinken upon arrival at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport. AFP -
Palestinian children in a makeshift shelter at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Reuters -
Boxes of humanitarian aid and supplies from Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation destined for Gaza, in Amman, Jordan. Reuters -
Palestinians outside Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on the sixth day of fighting between Israel and Hamas. AFP -
A pro-Israel vigil in Montevideo, Uruguay. EPA
Opposition leader Friedrich Merz, who said the pro-Hamas protests were an embarrassment for Germany, called for a ban on any group that supports Hamas or Islamist militants.
“Anyone who gathers money for terrorists or openly sympathises with them cannot plead freedom of expression,” he said as he offered to work with the government to tackle anti-Semitism.
Mindful of its guilt over the Holocaust, Germany has long regarded Israel’s security as a cornerstone of its foreign policy. Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate was lit up in the colours of the Israeli flag after the Hamas attacks.
Arms requests
Speaking at a Nato defence ministers’ meeting in Brussels, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said Israel had requested drones and naval ammunition as it organises its campaign against Hamas.
An Israeli request has been granted to use two armed Heron drones that are already in the country but currently on lease to the German military for training, Mr Pistorius said.
He said an Israeli request for warship ammunition was being considered. Germany recently agreed to buy the Arrow 3 missile defence system from Israel.
Germany is also offering manpower to help with diplomatic and medical tasks. Several German citizens were taken hostage during the surprise attack from Gaza.
Mr Scholz said Germany could not allow recent “positive developments” in the region such as the Abraham Accords between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain to be destroyed by terrorism.
“Our own history, our responsibility arising from the Holocaust, makes it an everlasting responsibility for us to stand up for the existence and security of the state of Israel,” he said.
Germany is suspending development aid for Palestinian territories while it reconsiders its policy, said Mr Scholz, who said any future assistance would be judged by whether it contributes to peace in the region.
He said that while there was no proof of Iran being directly involved in the latest escalation, it was “clear to us all that without Iranian support, Hamas would never have been able to launch this unprecedented attack”.
