Gaza war
Baerbock is gloomy about the situation in the Middle East
“The situation in the region is torn apart”: Foreign Minister Baerbock returns from her trip to the Middle East dismayed and is extremely pessimistic about the prospects.
Regarding the ongoing calls for a ceasefire, Baerbock explained: “I totally understand the impulse in this terrible situation, where innocent children, people, women, mothers, families not only suffer so terribly, but are killed.” But impulses weren’t enough to help people. Those who demanded such things would also have to answer questions. For example, the question of how Israel’s security can be guaranteed and what will happen to the Hamas hostages.
Politics of sometimes the smallest steps
From her point of view, Baerbock named ceasefires as the only possible option at the moment in order to enable humanitarian aid for civilians in need. “There needs to be breaks where the children who sit apathetically in the rubble of their houses in Gaza because their parents are buried under the rubble can really be reached.” This policy of sometimes the smallest steps is the only way to contain this suffering in the situation and then in the next steps to ensure that Israelis and Palestinians can really live in peace and security in the future, said Baerbock.
On her most recent trip to the region, Baerbock was in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the West Bank and Israel on Friday and Saturday. In addition to the humanitarian situation of civilians in the Gaza Strip, the focus was also on the situation of the hostages in the hands of Hamas and the search for a peace solution.