BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s would-be next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, won lawmakers’ approval Tuesday for ambitious plans to loosen the nation’s strict debt rules for higher defense spending as doubts mount about the strength of the trans-Atlantic alliance, and to set up an enormous fund for investment in its creaking infrastructure.
Merz passed a major test as the outgoing parliament voted 513-207 in its final meeting to approve the plans.
Click to Gallery
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attends a debate and voting about loosen the country's debt rules and change constitution in the German Parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz, right, speaks during a debate and voting about loosen the country's debt rules and change constitution in the German Parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz attends a debate and voting about loosen the country's debt rules and change constitution in the German Parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz, right, speaks during a debate and voting about loosen the country's debt rules and change constitution in the German Parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz, right, speaks during a debate and voting about loosen the country's debt rules and change constitution in the German Parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz speaks during a debate and voting about loosen the country's debt rules and change constitution in the German Parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz, right, speaks during a debate and voting about loosen the country's debt rules and change constitution in the German Parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz speaks during a debate and voting about loosen the country's debt rules and change constitution in the German Parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz speaks during a debate and voting about loosen the country's debt rules and change constitution in the German Parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union, right, and Social Democratic Party leader Lars Klingbeil talk during a meeting of the German federal parliament, Bundestag, at the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz, center, delivers his speech during a meeting of the German federal parliament, Bundestag, at the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz attend a meeting of the German federal parliament, Bundestag, at the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
The decision helps smooth the way for a governing coalition of Merz’s center-right Union bloc and the center-left Social Democrats of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz after he won last month’s election. But he still faces plenty of work to seal a deal in ongoing talks.
The plans needed a two-thirds majority of at least 489 votes in parliament’s lower house, the Bundestag, because they involve changes to Germany’s strict self-imposed borrowing rules — the so-called “debt brake,” which allows new borrowing worth only 0.35% of annual gross domestic product and is anchored in the constitution. That forced the prospective coalition partners into negotiations with the environmentalist Greens to get enough votes.
The package will exempt from the debt rules spending on defense and security, including intelligence agencies and assistance to Ukraine, worth more than 1% of GDP. It also foresees a 500 billion-euro ($544 billion) fund, financed by borrowing, to pour funding into Germany’s infrastructure over the next 12 years and help restore the stagnant economy — Europe’s biggest — to growth.
At the Greens’ insistence, 100 billion euros from the investment fund will go into climate-related spending.
The plans amounted to an about-turn for Merz, whose party had spoken out against running up new debt before the election without entirely closing the door to future changes to the “debt brake.” The Social Democrats and Greens had argued for a reform of the borrowing rules — arguing that Germany, whose debt load is relatively low, has room to borrow more.
Recent weeks have brought new urgency to efforts to further strengthen Germany’s long-neglected military. The outgoing government created a special 100 billion-euro fund to modernize it, which also helped Berlin meet the current NATO target of spending 2% of GDP on defense. But that pot will be used up in 2027, and doubts have grown recently about the Trump administration’s commitment to European allies.
Merz said earlier this month that Germany and Europe must quickly strengthen their defense capability and that “‘whatever it takes’ must also go for our defense now.”
On Tuesday, he pointed to the danger from Russian President Vladimir “Putin’s war of aggression against Europe — it is a war against Europe and not just a war against Ukraine’s territorial integrity.” He pointed to suspected Russian sabotage and disinformation in Europe.
Merz said the prospective German government’s move should be “the first step toward a new European defense community,” which could include countries outside the European Union such as Britain and Norway.
The Social Democrats’ co-leader, Lars Klingbeil, said that “Europe stands today next to an aggressive Russia on one side and an unpredictable United States of America on the other side.” He said he favors doing everything to maintain “indispensable” trans-Atlantic cooperation, but “we must now do our homework in Europe — we must become stronger, we must take care of our own security.”
Merz acknowledged that many are struggling to digest the wider spending plans but argued that “they open prospects for our country that, in the times we are living in, are urgently needed.”
The package was brought to the old parliament — not the newly elected one, which will hold its first session March 25, in which parties that were unlikely to agree have just over one-third of the seats. The far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany portrays itself as a staunch defender of the “debt brake,” while the Left Party opposes it but is skeptical about military spending.
“A politician’s greatest asset is credibility and with this embarrassing action, dear Mr. Merz, you have already squandered yours completely,” Alternative for Germany co-leader Tino Chrupalla said. “Voters feel cheated by you, and rightly.”
Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, Germany’s highest court rejected several bids to block the meeting of the outgoing parliament.
The package faces another hurdle Friday in parliament’s upper house, which represents Germany’s 16 state governments. They are also set to be given more freedom to borrow money.
A two-thirds majority will also be needed in the upper house. That initially was uncertain because the parties behind the plans control only 41 of the 69 upper-house votes. But on Monday, the conservative-led governing coalition in Bavaria, which has six votes, also agreed to support the package.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attends a debate and voting about loosen the country's debt rules and change constitution in the German Parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz, right, speaks during a debate and voting about loosen the country's debt rules and change constitution in the German Parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz attends a debate and voting about loosen the country's debt rules and change constitution in the German Parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz, right, speaks during a debate and voting about loosen the country's debt rules and change constitution in the German Parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz, right, speaks during a debate and voting about loosen the country's debt rules and change constitution in the German Parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz speaks during a debate and voting about loosen the country's debt rules and change constitution in the German Parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz, right, speaks during a debate and voting about loosen the country's debt rules and change constitution in the German Parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz speaks during a debate and voting about loosen the country's debt rules and change constitution in the German Parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz speaks during a debate and voting about loosen the country's debt rules and change constitution in the German Parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union, right, and Social Democratic Party leader Lars Klingbeil talk during a meeting of the German federal parliament, Bundestag, at the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz, center, delivers his speech during a meeting of the German federal parliament, Bundestag, at the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz attend a meeting of the German federal parliament, Bundestag, at the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel launched airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, killing more than 400 Palestinians, local health officials said, and shattering a ceasefire in place since January with its deadliest bombardment in a 17-month war with Hamas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the strikes, which killed mostly women and children, after Hamas refused Israeli demands to change the ceasefire agreement. Officials said the operation was open-ended and expected to expand. The White House said it had been consulted and voiced support for Israel’s actions.
The Israeli military ordered people to evacuate eastern Gaza and head toward the center of the territory, indicating that Israel could soon launch renewed ground operations. The new campaign comes as aid groups warn supplies are running out two weeks after Israel cut off all food, medicine, fuel and other goods to Gaza’s 2 million Palestinians.
“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Netanyahu’s office said.
The attack during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan could signal the full resumption of a war that has already killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and caused widespread destruction across Gaza. It also raised concerns about the fate of the roughly two dozen Israeli hostages held by Hamas who are believed to still be alive.
The renewal of the campaign against Hamas, which is supported by Iran, came as the U.S. and Israel stepped up attacks this week across the region. The U.S. launched deadly strikes against Iran-allied rebels in Yemen, while Israel has targeted Iran-backed militants in Lebanon and Syria.
A senior Hamas official said Netanyahu’s decision to return to war amounts to a “death sentence” for the remaining hostages. Izzat al-Risheq accused Netanyahu of launching the strikes to save his far-right governing coalition and called on mediators to “reveal facts” on who broke the truce. Hamas said at least six senior officials were killed in Tuesday’s strikes.
There were no reports of any attacks by Hamas several hours after the bombardment.
The strikes came as Netanyahu comes under mounting domestic pressure, with mass protests planned over his handling of the hostage crisis and his decision to fire the head of Israel’s internal security agency. His latest testimony in a long-running corruption trial was canceled after the strikes.
The strikes appeared to give Netanyahu a political boost, with a far-right party that had bolted the government over the ceasefire announcing Tuesday that it was rejoining.
The main group representing families of the hostages accused the government of backing out of the ceasefire. “We are shocked, angry and terrified by the deliberate dismantling of the process to return our loved ones from the terrible captivity of Hamas,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said.
Strikes across Gaza pounded homes, sparked fires in a tent camp of displaced people outside the southern city of Khan Younis and hit at least one school-turned shelter.
After two months of relative calm during the ceasefire, stunned Palestinians found themselves once again digging loved ones out of rubble and holding funeral prayers over the dead at hospital morgues.
“Nobody wants to fight,” Palestinian resident Nidal Alzaanin told the AP by phone from Gaza City. “Everyone is still suffering from the previous months.”
A hit on a home in Rafah killed 17 members of one family, according to the European Hospital, which received the bodies. The dead included five children, their parents, and another father and his three children.
At Khan Younis’s Nasser Hospital, patients lay on the floor, some screaming. A young girl cried as her bloody arm was bandaged. Wounded children overwhelmed the pediatric ward, said Dr Tanya-Haj Hassan, a volunteer with Medical Aid for Palestinians aid group.
“We woke up to an airstrike frenzy. The windows were shaking, the doors flew open,” she said. “The patients have been flowing in ever since.”
Gaza’s Health Ministry said the strikes killed at least 404 people and wounded more than 560. Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the ministry’s records department, said at least 263 of those killed were women or children under 18. He described it as the deadliest day in Gaza since the start of the war.
The war has killed over 48,500 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and displaced an estimated 90% of Gaza’s population. The Health Ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and militants but says over half of the dead have been women and children.
The war erupted when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. Most have been released in ceasefires or other deals, with Israeli forces rescuing only eight and recovering dozens of bodies.
The White House sought to blame Hamas for the renewed fighting. National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said the militant group “could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war.”
The ceasefire deal that the U.S. helped broker, however, did not require Hamas to release more hostages to extend the halt in fighting beyond its first phase.
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the unfolding operation, said Israel was striking Hamas’ military, leaders and infrastructure and planned to expand the operation beyond air attacks.
The official accused Hamas of attempting to rebuild and plan new attacks. Hamas militants and security forces quickly returned to the streets in recent weeks after the ceasefire went into effect. Hamas on Tuesday denied planning new attacks.
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the military said it and police forces launched raids in the cities of Nablus, Qalqiliya and elsewhere, detaining at least 13 suspected militants and seizing weapons. It said one militant was killed.
Under the ceasefire that began in mid-January, Hamas released 25 hostages and the bodies of eight more in exchange for more than 1,700 Palestinian prisoners as agreed in the first phase.
But Israel balked at entering negotiations over a second phase. Under the agreement, phase two was meant to free the 24 living hostages still in captivity and bring about an end to the war and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel says Hamas also holds the remains of 35 captives.
Instead, Israel demanded Hamas release half of the remaining hostages in return for an extension of the truce and a vague promise to eventually negotiate a lasting truce. Hamas refused, demanding the two sides follow the original deal, which called for the truce to continue during negotiations over the second phase.
Though Israeli forces have killed dozens of Palestinians who the military says approached its troops or entered unauthorized areas since the ceasefire began, the deal has largely held. Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to mediate the next steps.
Israel says it will not end the war until it destroys Hamas’ governing and military capabilities and frees all hostages — two goals that could be incompatible.
A full resumption of the war would allow Netanyahu to avoid the tough trade-offs called for in the second phase of the agreement and the thorny question of who would govern Gaza.
It would also shore up his coalition, which depends on far-right lawmakers who want to depopulate Gaza and rebuild Jewish settlements there.
That was already in motion with the return of far-right Itamar Ben-Gvir and his party to Netanyahu’s government Tuesday.
The released hostages, some of whom were emaciated, have repeatedly implored the government to press ahead with the ceasefire to return all remaining captives. Tens of thousands of Israelis have taken part in mass protests calling for a ceasefire and return of all hostages.
Mass demonstrations are planned later Tuesday and Wednesday following Netanyahu’s announcement this week that he wants to fire the head of Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency. Critics have lambasted the move as an attempt by Netanyahu to divert blame for his government’s failures in the Oct. 7 attack and handling of the war.
Federman reported from Jerusalem and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press reporters Mohammad Jahjouh in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip; Abdel Kareem Hana in Gaza City, Gaza Strip; Fatma Khaled in Cairo; and Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed.
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
A man mourns over the body of a child, lying among other victims at the hospital morgue, following Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammad Jahjouh)
EDS NOTE GRAPHIC CONTENT.- A woman mourns over the body of a person killed in overnight Israeli army airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, at the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A woman mourns as she identifies a body in the Al-Ahli hospital following overnight Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A woman reacts as she stands over the bodies of people killed during overnight Israeli army airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, at the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A woman carries the body of a child to Al-Ahli hospital following overnight Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A woman reacts over the body of a person killed during overnight Israeli army airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, at the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A woman reacts next to bodies of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli army airstrikes are brought to the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Mourners gather around the bodies of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli army airstrikes as they are brought to Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Mourners gather around the bodies of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli army airstrikes as they are brought to Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians inspect the damage at Al-Tabi'in School in central Gaza Strip following an Israeli airstrike, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians inspect the damage at Al-Tabi'in School in central Gaza Strip following an Israeli airstrike, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A man carries a covered body following overnight Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, at the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
EDS NOTE GRAPHIC CONTENT.- A man carries the body of a child to the Al-Ahli hospital following multiple overnight Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Bodies of people killed during overnight Israeli army airstrikes across the Gaza Strip are left in the yard of the the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians inspect the damage at Al-Tabi'in School in central Gaza Strip following an Israeli airstrike, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians inspect the damage at Al-Tabi'in School in central Gaza Strip following an Israeli airstrike, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
People gather around the bodies of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli army airstrikes as they are brought to the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A Palestinian man holds the body of his 11 month-old nephew Mohammad Shaban, killed in an Israeli army airstrikes at the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
The bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli army airstrikes are brought to Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Injured Palestinians wait for treatment at the hospital following Israeli army airstrikes in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammad Jahjouh)
The bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli army airstrikes are brought to Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A body of a Palestinian killed in an Israeli army airstrikes is brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
The bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli army airstrikes are brought to Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians mourn their relative who was killed in an Israeli army airstrikes, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
The bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli army airstrikes are brought to Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
The bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli army airstrikes are brought to Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
The bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli army airstrikes are brought to Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - EDS NOTE GRAPHIC CONTENT.- Palestinians hold the hands of their relative who was killed in an Israeli army airstrike, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Karem Hanna)
A body of a Palestinian killed in an Israeli army airstrikes is brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
An injured man waits for treatment on the floor of a hospital following Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammad Jahjouh)
Injured Palestinians wait for treatment at the hospital following Israeli army airstrikes in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammad Jahjouh)
A man mourns over the body of a child, lying among other victims at the hospital morgue, following Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammad Jahjouh)
A man mourns as he places the body of a child in the hospital morgue following Israeli army airstrikes in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammad Jahjouh)
An ambulance carrying victims of an Israeli army strike arrives at the hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday March 18, 2025.(AP Photo/ Mohammad Jahjouh)
A dead person killed during an Israeli army strike is taken into the hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday March 18, 2025.(AP Photo/ Mohammad Jahjouh)
A dead person killed during an Israeli army strike is taken into the hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday March 18, 2025.(AP Photo/ Mohammad Jahjouh)
