Middle East trip
Baerbock calls on Israel to stop settlement projects
For the ninth time since Hamas’ bloody attack on Israel, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) is visiting the attacked country. In the coastal metropolis, she will meet her colleague Israel Katz. Photo
© Soeren Stache/dpa
Talks about a hostage deal are still stalling. Partners and neighbors are losing patience with the Israeli government. Foreign Minister Baerbock has clear words in Tel Aviv.
The Israeli government must also take “stronger and more visible action against the violent acts of radical settlers,” Baerbock demanded. This would be a “first important step towards easing tensions in the West Bank and also towards strengthening trust among partners in the region.” The day before, Baerbock said in Jordan about the outbreak of violence in the West Bank that Israel was “an occupying power in the West Bank and, according to the Geneva Convention, is obliged to maintain law and order instead of endangering it.”
In view of the stalled mediation talks on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of the hostages – some of whom are still German nationals – Baerbock also spoke with Defense Minister Joav Galant in Tel Aviv. A meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not planned. At the end of her two-day Middle East trip, which took her to Israel and Jordan as well as Saudi Arabia, Baerbock wanted to speak to the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, Mohammed Mustafa, in Ramallah in the West Bank. In Baerbock’s view, the authority could play an important role in a post-war order in the Gaza Strip.