Middle East trip
Baerbock: “There should not be a major offensive on Rafah”
The next stage on her Middle East trip: Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock lands in Tel Aviv. photo
© Christoph Soeder/dpa
The Foreign Minister is visiting Israel for the sixth time since the Hamas attack. She chooses clear words about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. There is a special signal for the Palestinians.
After a conversation with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the Federal Foreign Minister praised the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Abbas for their contribution to the UN resolution for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
On Tuesday morning, Baerbock’s sixth visit to Israel since Hamas’ terrorist attack on the country on October 7th includes a meeting with her Israeli colleague Israel Katz in Jerusalem. It is unclear in which atmosphere Baerbock’s conversation with Katz will take place. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled the planned trip of an Israeli delegation to the USA in response to Washington’s abstention from a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip for the first time. Baerbock, on the other hand, told journalists in Jerusalem that she was “relieved about the adoption of the resolution because every day counts.” This applies both to the starving people in Gaza and to the hostages still held captive by the Islamist Hamas.
After ceasefire demand: Israel expects further support
Even before Baerbock arrived in Israel, Foreign Minister Katz had reacted frostily after the Federal Foreign Minister called on Israel and Hamas on X (formerly Twitter) for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire that should lead to a ceasefire. Katz wrote on X: “We expect our friends to continue to support Israel in these challenging times and not to weaken it against the terrorist organization Hamas.” A humanitarian ceasefire cannot be maintained without the release of Israeli hostages. The minister added: “We must continue to work together to increase humanitarian assistance to Gaza.”
In Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, an estimated 1.5 million of the 2.2 million in the coastal region are seeking shelter from the fighting in other parts of Gaza in a confined space. According to Netanyahu, the army has drawn up plans to bring civilians to safety.
Baerbock is calling for the land route to be opened again
In Cairo, the Federal Foreign Minister emphasized that aid deliveries from the air and by sea could only make a small contribution to supplying the people of Gaza. “What we need is the opening of the land route.” The Israeli government has a responsibility to guarantee access to food and water as well as safe places to escape. Baerbock accused Israel of not distinguishing strongly enough between military and civilian targets. This, as well as the humanitarian situation, further encouraged terrorism in the Gaza Strip. “No hostage will be freed if children in Gaza are currently starving,” she said, addressing the Israeli government.
“Don’t pit the suffering of both sides against each other”
The minister advocated seeing the suffering on both sides and not playing it off against each other. “We have to do everything we can to ensure that the terrible situation for the people in Gaza finally ends. And we have to do everything we can to ensure that the families who have been waiting for their loved ones, their daughters, sons and parents for over five months, do so “People will finally come home and the threat to Israel from the terrorist organization Hamas will end.”
In total, more than 130 hostages are still being held in the Gaza Strip. Of these, there are probably only about 100 still alive. It is unclear how many Germans are among the hostages. In November, 14 German citizens were released along with other hostages.
Baerbock praises Palestinian President Abbas
Baerbock said in the evening after a meeting with Abbas in Ramallah that with its clear condemnation of Hamas’s violence against civilians in Israel on October 7, Abbas’s PA had made “an important contribution” to the decision in New York. It can only follow Abbas’s PA call for Hamas to lay down its arms. The global community’s urgent appeal for a ceasefire is overdue. The call for the release of all hostages in Gaza and for more help for the suffering civilian population is also important.
The Federal Foreign Minister demanded that the PA ruling in the West Bank needed access to Gaza “and the certainty that Gaza and, above all, the West Bank are one.” In this context, Israeli settlement construction is always opening up “new gaps and thus also security threats”. Baerbock criticized: “This is literally blocking the two-state solution. This is literally blocking peace.” She also continues to advocate for violent radical settlers to face consequences.
According to media reports, Israel’s civil administration has declared 800 hectares in the West Bank as Israeli state land. Among other things, hundreds of settler apartments are to be built in the area. Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law.
Foreign Office on Israel’s announcement that it will confiscate 800 hectares of land Post by Israel Katz