Emergency Court Motions to Stop Elbit Drone Parts Shipment via Frankfurt Airport 

Berlin,Germany- 7 June 2025, The European Legal Support Center (ELSC), through lawyer Ahmed Abed, has filed two emergency motions with the Administration Courts of Frankfurt and Berlin on June 6, urging German authorities to block the transit of Israeli military drone components through Frankfurt Airport. ELSC, acting on behalf of a Palestinian plaintiff from Gaza, pursued legal action in an effort to halt the plane shipment to Israel and prevent Germany’s further complicity in genocide, crimes against humanity – including apartheid and persecution, and war crimes.

The shipment of drone parts in question is arriving from Budapest and is scheduled to be transferred on passenger flight by El Al, departing from Frankfurt on 10 June 2025, and landing in Tel Aviv. According to open-source intelligence and export documentation, the flight is expected to carry components of Skylark, a miniature unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufactured by Elbit Systems, one of Israel’s primary military suppliers. This is a continuation in Germany’s pattern of allowing transit of weapon parts to Israel as reported over the past year.

The Skylark drone is used by the Israeli military to identify and surveil targets in Gaza, relaying real-time coordinates for artillery strikes. These strikes have resulted in the large-scale killing of civilians and the destruction of critical infrastructure. Authorizing the transit of these military components through German territory constitutes yet another  violation of international humanitarian law, including war crimes and acts that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has found to be plausibly genocidal, as documented by the UN, and Palestinian as well as international human rights bodies. As reiterated by the ICJ in its 2024 Advisory Opinion, states must not aid or assist in maintaining the unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory. 

The ICJ in its Nicaragua v Germany order has also reminded “all States of their international obligations relating to the transfer of arms to parties to an armed conflict, in order to avoid the risk that such arms might be used to violate the above-mentioned Conventions. All these obligations are incumbent upon Germany as a State party to the said Conventions in its supply of arms to Israel.” 

The court filing is based on the following legal arguments:

• Under Sections 3 and 6 of the War Weapons Control Act, Germany is obliged to withdraw the license for the transfer, as it violates the country’s obligations under international law;
• Under Article 1 of the Genocide Convention, the German government has a legal duty to prevent genocide;
• Finally, Germany is bound by international humanitarian law to refrain from supporting any actions that could contribute to the commission of war crimes in Gaza, and must fully uphold its obligations under the Geneva Conventions.

Accordingly, the German government must revoke its approval for the transfer of military drone parts through its territory.

Released data by the German Ministry for Economic Affairs reveals that Germany has exported weapons to Israel worth approximately 485.1 Million Euro between October 2023 and May 2025. Germany is the second largest exporter of arms to Israel, amounting to 30% of Israel’s arms imports, following the U.S. at 69%.

Exporting arms or permitting the transit of drone components used to facilitate military operations in Gaza, constitutes a violation of Germany’s international obligations, including those under Article 1 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, the duty to prevent genocide under the Genocide Convention, customary international law, the Arms Trade Treaty, and the EU Common position on exports of military technology and equipment.

The use of civilian aircraft to transport military goods raises serious concerns under EU and German export control laws, aviation security protocols, and civil-military aviation separation requirements. Across Europe, Palestine solidarity movements are mobilising to stop arms deliveries to Israel. Dockworkers in France have blocked 14 tons of military supplies from leaving France to feed Israel’s military industry. The ship Kathrin was repeatedly turned away by various Asian, African and European ports, and protests emerged in Rotterdam port in the Netherlands two weeks ago, to block a shipment carrying F-35 fighter jet parts from Israel.

Ahmad Abed, partner lawyer with the ELSC said: “The German government must finally fulfill its obligations under the Genocide Convention to actively prevent the genocide in Gaza. Any further export of arms from or via Germany for the Gaza war is a breach of international law. Moreover, the failure to withdraw the license for the transfer is in breach of the German’s War Weapons Control Act.”

This case follows recent German and international calls to halt arms transfers to Israel due to the risk of genocide, including from the UN Special Rapporteur on the OPT and several EU states. By filing this urgent motion, ELSC seeks to prevent further irreparable harm to civilians in Gaza and to hold the German state accountable for its legal obligations under international humanitarian and criminal law and The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.