Statement from the Chancellor in the afternoon: Olaf Scholz condemns the “barbaric acts” of Hamas in Israel in the Chancellery, which cannot be justified by anything, “nothing at all.” The Chancellor reports that he has it at noon spoke on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and assured him that Germany was on Israel’s side. “The right to exist is a matter of state,” says Scholz, and this applies especially in difficult times. Israel has the right to defend itself to protect its citizens and prosecute the perpetrators.
Scholz continued that he would speak to Egyptian President Sisi in the afternoon. Egypt is trying to mediate the conflict and Germany wants to support it. In addition, there are still Phone calls with US President Joe Biden, French President Emanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak planned. “We are doing everything we can to ensure that this does not become a conflagration for the entire region,” says Scholz. The Chancellor also declared, with a view to rallies by Palestinian sympathizers in Berlin on Saturday: “We do not accept it when the atrocious acts are celebrated here on our streets.”
Israel reports more than 600 dead and more than a hundred Hamas hostages
