Chancellor Friedrich Merz blasts Hamas for releasing horrific footage of Israeli hostages, calls for a ceasefire tied to their release, and signals Germany’s evolving stance on Israel and Palestine.
Germany’s leadership has issued a searing condemnation of Hamas’s latest propaganda videos showing emaciated Israeli hostages, even as Berlin signals a significant recalibration of its stance toward Israel.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was “appalled” by the shocking images of hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, visibly skeletal after months in Hamas captivity. “Hamas is torturing the hostages, terrorizing Israel, and using its own population in Gaza as a human shield,” Merz told Bild.
Merz insisted that any ceasefire must be conditional on the release of all hostages, calling it “an absolute prerequisite” for halting the fighting. At the same time, he underscored that Israel must not “reciprocate Hamas’s cynicism” and should continue providing humanitarian aid despite the enemy’s tactics.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, who just returned from visits to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, said the footage revealed “the perfidy” of the hostages’ tormentors. The videos include deeply disturbing scenes—among them, 24-year-old Evyatar David being forced to dig his own grave in a cramped Gaza tunnel.
The images have provoked global outrage, drawing condemnation from French President Emmanuel Macron and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
But the uproar comes amid a notable shift in German policy. In May, Berlin warned it could take unspecified measures against Israel and announced it would stop arms exports that could be used in breach of humanitarian law. This pivot mirrors a broader European re-evaluation, with Britain, France, and Canada also threatening “concrete actions” over Gaza’s humanitarian crisis.
Before visiting Israel last week, Wadephul called for the start of a process toward recognizing a Palestinian state. While Germany sees recognition as “a step at the end of the process,” Wadephul says the process must begin now.
“Germany will continue to advocate that Hamas be disarmed, that it never again holds political power in the Palestinian territories, and that it releases all hostages, including German citizens,” Wadephul said. “But to achieve lasting peace, the only viable path is a negotiated two-state solution.”
