Military agreements of European states with Israel are criticized by international law experts

While Israel's attacks on Gaza continue and Israeli officials state that the plan to forcibly remove Palestinians from Gaza is still on the agenda, some European countries' signing new military agreements with Israel is met with reaction.

Gentian Zyberi, Professor of International Law and Human Rights from the Norwegian Human Rights Center at the University of Oslo, and Gerhard Kemp, Professor of International Criminal Law from the University of the West of England in Bristol, England, made statements to the AA correspondent about countries such as Germany, Greece and Finland making military agreements and maintaining relations with Tel Aviv at a time when Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said that the plan to deport Palestinians from Gaza was still on the agenda.

Zyberi pointed out that Katz's statement violated international humanitarian law in accordance with Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, was a serious violation of Article 147, and was also defined as a war crime under Article 8 of the Rome Statute, the founding agreement of the International Criminal Court (ICC), and said that the ICC Prosecutor's Office should examine these statements and file a criminal complaint against Israeli officials who support the exile of Palestinians.

Emphasizing that, in accordance with Article 6 of the Arms Trade Agreement, to which Germany is a party, when transferring weapons to a third country, it has the responsibility of "ensuring that they are not used to commit mass atrocity crimes", Zyberi said: "Given the public information that war crimes in Gaza continue despite the ceasefire that has lasted for almost a year, Germany should consider stopping or postponing such arms transfers." he warned.

Reminding that Nicaragua filed a lawsuit against Germany at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), alleging that Israel committed genocide in Gaza and that Germany gave political, financial and military support to it, Zyberi stated that Berlin's continued arms transfers to Tel Aviv may result in Germany being held responsible before the ICJ.

Zyberi concluded his words as follows:

"At a time when Israel was taken to the ICJ by South Africa for not complying with its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and its prime minister was indicted by the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity, it would be appropriate for any government to refrain from military cooperation and agreements with the government of a country that violates international law on a daily basis by killing, wounding and starving Palestinians in Gaza, as well as ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and East Jerusalem."

Continuing arms transfers to Israel is "irresponsible behavior"

Kemp also said that in the genocide case filed by South Africa against Israel at the ICJ, Tel Aviv did not comply with the Court's interim measures, and as a result, conditions in Gaza continued to be severe and many Palestinians lost their lives in Israeli attacks despite the ceasefire.

Pointing out that although the Palestinians' migration from Gaza "is tried to be portrayed as voluntary", it will not be so due to the unbearable living conditions in the region, Kemp said: "The statements of senior Israeli politicians that Palestinians should be 'encouraged' to leave Gaza should be evaluated in the context of the ongoing genocide (as confirmed by two reports of the United Nations Independent Commission)." he said.

Kemp underlined that the imposition of intolerable conditions on Palestinians and efforts to forcibly remove them from Gaza should be considered war crimes, crimes against humanity and an act of ethnic cleansing indicating genocidal intent.

Kemp said, "In the face of this situation, I see it as extremely irresponsible behavior for states to continue providing weapons to Israel." made his assessment.

Kemp stated that he relies on the support of the international community for the implementation of the ICJ's decisions regarding Israel, and that the authority that can make similar decisions is the UN Security Council, but that the USA will veto such decisions. "Still, individual states (such as Germany and Greece) must adhere to international law in their bilateral relations with Israel." he said.

The Israeli army continues its attacks on the Gaza Strip despite the ceasefire that came into force on October 10, 2025.

According to the latest official data, 1,344 Palestinians have lost their lives and 4,464 people have been injured in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire.

73 thousand 651 people lost their lives and 174 thousand 575 people were injured in Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 2023.

It was revealed that the German government approved the shipment of military equipment worth approximately 800 million euros to Israel, after it lifted the partial arms export restrictions imposed on Israel, which was accused of committing genocide in Gaza.

It was also revealed that Finland signed the defense cooperation agreement with Israel without announcing it to the public in 2024, when the genocide in Gaza was continuing, and extended it until 2034.

The "Achilles Shield" air defense agreement worth approximately 3 billion euros was signed between the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the Greek Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv.

In his statement to AA correspondent regarding the statements of Israeli officials regarding the displacement of Palestinians, Christian Wigand, one of the spokespersons of the European Union (EU) Commission, underlined that the Gaza Strip should be part of the "future State of Palestine" as a single and complete structure, together with the West Bank and the Palestinians, and said, "We reject all attempts to make any demographic or territorial changes in the Gaza Strip." He used the expression.