Kan News reported that the German aid to Gaza included vast amounts of materials to be used for civil infrastructure, but Hamas took advantage and found “dual use” for materials, such as pipes, sewer rings, steel, and cement. ARD reached its conclusions based on 150 pages of files released by the Federal Office for Economic Cooperation (BMZ), obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, which were discussed with many engineers for civil and rocket-building projects.
"If you aren’t planning a high-quality rocket, any reasonably strong steel tube will work," Johann Hochler, a weapons technician at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich, told ARD. Robert Schmucker, a retired professor from the Technical University of Munich, tested Hamas rockets in Israel and confirmed the suspicion presented in Hamas videos that water pipes supplied to the Gaza Strip were converted for use as rockets. The investigation revealed that GIZ (Association for International Cooperation), a German government company, was very involved in hydraulic engineering in Gaza until late 2018, but claims that it never financed or supplied water pipes.
So, what was GIZ involved in, which might have contributed to the Hamas terrorist empire? In a 2016 memorandum, GIZ writes about "equipment for the operation and maintenance of wastewater systems,” which, in other words is an advanced canal system for Gaza, which was also financed by the German bank KfW, which, ironically, prides itself on the slogan “Responsible Banking.” For more than two decades, KfW financed construction projects in Gaza, amounting to tens of millions of Euros for several large projects, as well as for forty small construction sites, in the field of water and wastewater.
Jan Loking, from the Liebeck University of Technology, analyzed video footage from the Hamas tunnel system that was displayed as part of the ARD investigation and stated: "You don't just build a tunnel like this. These are components used in the construction of sewage canals and it is clear that the exits from the tunnels are sewer canal shafts." Parts of the ceiling looked to Loking like elements used in the construction of buildings, and he states: "Perhaps they were misused."
At the end of 2023, GIZ chairman Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel. attended the press club in Frankfurt, and when asked about the possibility that German engineering intended for the construction of sewer systems in Gaza, was also used to build terror tunnels – he remained silent. All companies mentioned in the ARD investigation commented that they employed strict monitoring and control mechanisms, and that there were no indications of any materials disappearing from the construction sites they supervised. A spokesman for KfW bank said: "We have no information of the transfer of knowledge for tunnel construction."
