Bundestag President Julia Klöckner entered the Gaza Strip in mid-February 2026 under Israeli military escort. Her itinerary included no meetings with Palestinian officials, civil society representatives, residents, or humanitarian workers. She was shown what Israeli forces chose to show her.
German lawmakers from multiple parties condemned the visit. Several warned that appearing inside Gaza alongside the Israeli military — without any Palestinian perspective — risks legitimizing Israeli annexation and occupation plans at a moment when Israel is actively registering West Bank land as state property, deploying settlers, and defying ICJ rulings. Others noted the visit sent a signal about whose version of Gaza’s reality Berlin has chosen to validate.
Germany’s position throughout the genocide has been one of the most entrenched among Western nations. Since October 2023, Berlin has supplied weapons to Israel, shielded it from stronger international censure, and used counterterrorism frameworks domestically to suppress pro-Palestinian speech and organizing. Germany’s public broadcaster has faced criticism for its coverage. Cultural institutions including the Berlinale have retreated from engagement with Palestinian voices. Academic events have been canceled under government pressure.
The Klöckner visit fits that pattern precisely. A visit to a destroyed territory conducted entirely through the lens of the occupying military is not a fact-finding mission. It is an endorsement. It communicates to the Israeli government that Germany’s senior legislative leadership sees Gaza through Israeli eyes — that the destruction, the starvation, the blocked aid missions, the 72,000 dead, the 6,000 amputees are details that do not require a Palestinian source to understand.
Germany’s foreign minister has said publicly that Berlin is committed to a two-state solution. Germany’s parliamentary speaker entered Gaza without speaking to a single Palestinian. These two positions are not in tension. They are the same position — support for a framework that centers Israeli preferences while rendering Palestinian experience optional.
What Klöckner saw in Gaza, filtered through Israeli military briefings, is what German policy will now reflect.
Germany’s Parliamentary Speaker Toured Gaza Embedded with the Israeli Military. She Met No Palestinians.
Bundestag President Julia Klöckner entered the Gaza Strip in mid-February 2026 under Israeli military escort. Her itinerary included no meetings with Palestinian officials, civil society representatives, residents, or humanitarian workers. She was shown what Israeli forces chose to show her.
German lawmakers from multiple parties condemned the visit. Several warned that appearing inside Gaza alongside the Israeli military — without any Palestinian perspective — risks legitimizing Israeli annexation and occupation plans at a moment when Israel is actively registering West Bank land as state property, deploying settlers, and defying ICJ rulings. Others noted the visit sent a signal about whose version of Gaza’s reality Berlin has chosen to validate.
Germany’s position throughout the genocide has been one of the most entrenched among Western nations. Since October 2023, Berlin has supplied weapons to Israel, shielded it from stronger international censure, and used counterterrorism frameworks domestically to suppress pro-Palestinian speech and organizing. Germany’s public broadcaster has faced criticism for its coverage. Cultural institutions including the Berlinale have retreated from engagement with Palestinian voices. Academic events have been canceled under government pressure.
The Klöckner visit fits that pattern precisely. A visit to a destroyed territory conducted entirely through the lens of the occupying military is not a fact-finding mission. It is an endorsement. It communicates to the Israeli government that Germany’s senior legislative leadership sees Gaza through Israeli eyes — that the destruction, the starvation, the blocked aid missions, the 72,000 dead, the 6,000 amputees are details that do not require a Palestinian source to understand.
Germany’s foreign minister has said publicly that Berlin is committed to a two-state solution. Germany’s parliamentary speaker entered Gaza without speaking to a single Palestinian. These two positions are not in tension. They are the same position — support for a framework that centers Israeli preferences while rendering Palestinian experience optional.
What Klöckner saw in Gaza, filtered through Israeli military briefings, is what German policy will now reflect.