War in the Middle East
Baerbock visits Palestinian settlement in the West Bank
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock met her new Israeli counterpart Israel Katz in Jerusalem. photo
© Michael Kappeler/dpa
During another visit to the Middle East, the Federal Foreign Minister is calling on Israel to be more committed to humanitarian aid in Gaza. She also wants to take a stand against settler violence in the West Bank.
Three months after the start of the Gaza war, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wants to visit… West Bank to get an idea of the situation of the Palestinians there. First of all, the Green politician wanted to go to a Palestinian village this Monday and talk to the residents. A meeting with Foreign Minister Riad al-Maliki was planned later in Ramallah. In the evening the onward journey to Egypt was on the agenda. A meeting with Foreign Minister Samih Schukri is planned there on Tuesday.
Baerbock wanted to visit Lebanon on Wednesday before flying from there to the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore.
Criticism of settler violence in the West Bank
On Sunday evening, after talks with Israeli President Izchak Herzog and the new Foreign Minister Israel Katz in Jerusalem, Baerbock said she had deep concerns about the violence and displacement of people in the West Bank by radical Jewish settlers. “This violence has increased dramatically since October 7th. This violence must end.” Here too, the Israeli army has a duty to protect Palestinians. Illegal settlement construction “represents a significant obstacle to lasting peace in the region.”
A two-state solution is “the only chance so that Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace. Now is the moment to take this course,” said Baerbock.
The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented attack by the Islamist Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups on border towns in Israel on October 7th. According to Israeli information, around 1,200 people were killed and around 240 people were kidnapped into the Gaza Strip. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, the number of Palestinians killed has now risen to more than 22,700, and more than 58,000 people were injured.
Human rights activists: 2023 More settler violence than before
According to Israeli human rights activists, there were more recorded cases of violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank in 2023 than before. According to Israeli media, the number of attacks by Palestinian assassins on Israeli civilians and security forces in the West Bank has increased over the past year and a half.
In the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel conquered, among other things, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Hundreds of thousands of settlers now live there among around three million Palestinians. The Palestinians are demanding the territories for their own state.
Baerbock to Israel: More humanitarian aid for Gaza
In view of the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip, Baerbock called on Israel on Sunday evening to be more targeted and to provide more humanitarian aid. “The suffering of so many innocent people cannot continue like this. We need a less intensive operation,” she demanded. At the same time, she called on Israel to make the handling of aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip more practical.
According to Baerbock, the federal government is open to supplying Eurofighter fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. By intercepting rockets fired at Israel by the Yemeni Houthis, Riyadh is contributing to Israel’s security and preventing a conflagration in the region. “That’s precisely why we don’t see that we as the German federal government are opposing British considerations for additional Eurofighters for Saudi Arabia,” she said.
Berlin has veto rights over export decisions
Arms exports to Saudi Arabia are controversial because of the human rights situation in the kingdom and because of the emerging military power’s intervention in regional conflicts. The federal government decided in July to stop the delivery of Eurofighters to the wealthy Gulf state until the end of the electoral period in autumn 2025. The fighter jets are a European joint project in which Germany is involved – Berlin therefore has veto rights over export decisions. They are manufactured in Great Britain, which would be ready for delivery to Saudi Arabia.
Baerbock emphasized that Saudi Arabia in particular has known for some time about the danger that the Houthis pose to security in the region. “The fact that the Saudi Air Force also uses Eurofighters is, I believe, an open secret. This shows Riyadh’s efforts to ensure a better future in the region.”