By Andreas Rinke and Matthias Williams BERLIN (Reuters) -Election winner Friedrich Merz on Tuesday ruled out a quick reform to Germany's state borrowing limits known as the "debt brake" and said it was too soon to say whether the outgoing parliament could wave through a massive military spending boost.

Germany's outgoing parliament could still greenlight a new special fund to boost defence spending but reforming strict limits on state borrowing will be deferred to the new one, a senior ally of election winner Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday.

With German politicians now debating potential abrupt reforms to the country's strict balanced budget rules, some left-leaning politicians found themselves exasperated by conservative leader Friedrich Merz's quick post-election reversal on the issue.

A trial has begun in Germany for four alleged Hamas members suspected of organizing weapons caches across Europe.

Four Hamas members suspected of plotting attacks on Jewish institutions in Europe went on trial in Berlin on Tuesday, in what prosecutors described as the first court case against militants of the Islamist group in Germany.