Germany’s Top Court Dismisses Gaza Civilian’s Case Over Arms Exports to Israel

Berlin: Germany’s highest court on Thursday dismissed a case brought by a Palestinian civilian from Gaza who sought to sue the German government over its weapons exports to Israel.

The complainant, supported by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), had challenged export licenses for German-made components used in Israeli tanks deployed in Gaza.

After lower courts rejected his case in 2024 and 2025, he appealed to the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe. However, the court dismissed the appeal, stating that “the complainant has not sufficiently substantiated that the specialized courts misjudged or arbitrarily denied a possible duty to protect him.”

The court acknowledged that Germany is obligated to protect human rights and respect international humanitarian law. However, it emphasized that this does not necessarily require the state to take specific actions on behalf of individuals.

“It is fundamentally the responsibility of the state authorities themselves to decide how they fulfil their general duty of protection,” the court said in its ruling.

The ECCHR described the decision as “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 NGO’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 added.

The rights group had hoped for a different outcome following a previous ruling by the Constitutional Court last year, which stated that Germany has “a general duty to protect fundamental human rights and the core norms of international humanitarian law, even in cases involving foreign countries.”

That earlier case involved two Yemeni nationals who sought to sue Berlin over the role of the US Ramstein air base in a 2012 drone strike.

The Gaza-based complainant was one of five Palestinians who initially filed the case against the German government in 2024.