Rheinmetall’s Berlin plant begins production; link to arms supplies for Israel remains unverified

Deutsche Welle, citing German regional broadcaster RBB, reported that Rheinmetall’s plant in Berlin’s Wedding district began production in June, with the manufacturing of artillery ammunition casings and kamikaze drone components. Rheinmetall is Germany’s largest arms manufacturer. Deutsche Welle also noted that it remains unclear to what extent the plant is involved in supplying weapons to Israel.

Berlin police said nine pro-Palestinian protesters had used glue to stick themselves to the road outside the plant. From 5:30 a.m., police attempted to detach the protesters who had glued themselves down, deploying up to 90 officers; 11 protesters were present at the scene. Citing police, Deutsche Welle said the action was organized by the group “Peacefully Against Genocide.” The protesters demanded an end to Western arms exports to Israel.

The protest directly linked production at the plant to Western policies on arms exports to Israel. Existing reporting is sufficient to confirm that the production line is operational and to identify the types of products being made, but insufficient to determine whether the plant supplies weapons to Israel and to what extent. Characterizing the start of production directly as an “expansion of military supplies to Israel” would go beyond the available evidence. The reporting also provided no contracts, customer information, export permits or final delivery destinations, making it impossible to determine who placed the orders, which products have been delivered or where they ultimately went.