German lawyers sue Chancellor Olaf Scholz, alleging complicity in Gaza 'genocide'

A group of lawyers has filed a criminal complaint with the German federal prosecutor against senior German politicians, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, accusing them of "aiding and abetting" the "genocide" being committed by Israel in Gaza, reports Al Jazeera.

The case against several members of the country's Federal Security Council, which directs national security policy and authorises weapons exports, was announced on Friday (23 February).

In addition to Scholz, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Economics Minister Robert Habeck, Finance Minister Christian Lindner and others were accused.

The lawyers behind the case represent families of two Palestinians with roots in the Gaza Strip, including that of Palestinian-German migration scholar Nora Ragab, according to Al Jazeera's report.

"We, Palestinians in the diaspora, will not stand by and watch a genocide being committed against our families and our people," Ragab said in a statement.

"We will use all means at our disposal. … Today we aim to hold the German government accountable for its complicity in the genocide in Gaza."

The European Legal Support Center, the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy and the UK-based Law for Palestine are among the civil society organisations backing the case.

In a joint statement, they said, "The German state is one of the countries that has shown some of the strongest political and material support to Israel in its assault on the Gaza Strip and the Palestinians."

Alexander Gorski, one of the lawyers supporting the case, said, "From a legal point of view and given the political landscape in Germany, this case will be a difficult one."

"But we believe it's our responsibility as people working in the judicial sector to try to do something," he told Al Jazeera.

"We are seeing a genocide being livestreamed around the world, and despite this, the Israeli government is still being supported by other countries and is still receiving weapons from them."

After the 7 October attacks by Hamas, during which 1,139 people were killed in southern Israel, the Israeli government retaliated with a military campaign in Gaza that has so far killed more than 29,000 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children.