Tel Aviv (dpa) – During a visit to Israel, Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has called for a new humanitarian pause in the Gaza war. This would open a window “in which to free the hostages and to get in more humanitarian assistance,” Baerbock said during her fifth visit to Israel since the terrorist attack by the Islamist Hamas group on 7 October. Following talks in Jerusalem, she called on the warring parties to accept Qatar and Egypt’s proposal of a humanitarian pause and release of further hostages.
Baerbock stressed that an Israeli offensive on Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip was “a humanitarian catastrophe waiting to happen.” She said that the people there needed “safe places and secure corridors so that they do not end up being caught in the crossfire once again.” At the same time, she emphasised that protecting people in Israel from the Hamas terror was just as important as the survival of the people in Gaza.
The minister once again voiced support for a political route leading to a two-state solution. She said that security guarantees, a functioning government and the reconstruction of Gaza were needed to create a Palestinian state. A “kind of Marshall Plan” is needed to fund reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, Baerbock said.
