End the aid blockade, stop arms exports!
Osnabrück/Berlin, September 17, 2025 – A broad alliance of non-governmental organizations presented the German government with 44,255 signatures this afternoon for the petition "For a just peace in Gaza. End the aid blockade, stop the arms exports!" The petition was initiated in August 2024 by CARE Germany, IPPNW Germany, medico international, NRC Germany, Oxfam Germany, pax christi, the German Section, and Weltfriedensdienst. It is supported by 34 other organizations, including the children's rights organization Terre des Hommes .
Terre des Hommes strongly condemns the massive and serious violations of children's rights in Gaza and expects immediate action from all actors involved. Joshua Hofert, Chief Communications Officer and Spokesperson for the Board of Directors of Terre des Hommes : "The children in the Gaza Strip, in particular, are suffering immeasurably from the consequences of war, displacement, and the blockade. We urgently appeal to the German government to finally act decisively. What is urgently needed is an immediate ceasefire, an end to the blockade, and unhindered access for humanitarian aid. Now is the moment to consistently protect children's rights and ensure that children are no longer victims of war and political failures."
At today's presentation of the petition to Prof. Dr. Lars Castellucci, Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid, Therese Wenzel of the World Peace Service and Angelika Wilmen of IPPNW emphasized that the catastrophic situation of the people in Gaza has dramatically worsened since the petition was launched, while the German government supports Israel's illegal conduct of war.
The petition demands of the German government:
- to advocate more decisively for an immediate ceasefire and to demand the protection of civilians;
- to refuse all licences for the export of arms if there is a risk that they will be used in violation of international law;
- to demand from Israel, with significantly greater pressure, an immediate end to the blockade, which violates international law, and unhindered access for humanitarian aid;
- to take effective measures to end Israel’s illegal settlement construction and acts of violence by settlers;
- in accordance with the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice of 19 July 2024, the earliest possible end to the illegal occupation;
- to actively support international jurisdiction and the United Nations Commission of Inquiry;
- to work for the release of all hostages and those unlawfully detained;
- to protect the right to freedom of expression and assembly and to end the criminalization of constitutionally protected expressions of opinion in connection with Palestine/Israel.
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Contact:
Wolf-Christian Ramm, phone +49 5 41 71 01-158 or +49 171 672 9748 c.ramm@remove-this.tdh.de , www.tdh.de