POLITICSISRAEL
Germany’s Baerbock warns against wider Middle East conflict
3 hours ago3 hours ago
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is on a mini-tour of the Middle East. Upon arriving in Tel Aviv, she warned against the danger of a broader conflagration in the region.
https://p.dw.com/p/4Xmlz
Annalena Baerbock and Eli Cohen
Baerbock met her Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen soon after arriving at Tel Aviv airportImage: Jörg Blank/dpa/picture alliance
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock arrived at Tel Aviv on Friday warning .
Having visited Jordan, Baerbock is making her second visit to Israel since the October 7 Hamas terror attacks. She is then set to head on to Lebanon and Egypt, where she will attend a summit in Cairo.
What Baerbock said
“We can avert catastrophe,” Baerbock said after arriving, referring to the meeting in Egypt and the concern that the conflict might spread to involve the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.
“Hezbollah must not drag Lebanon into this conflict,” said Baerbock, also warning Iran, Shiite militias in Iraq, and the Houthi rebels in Yemen not to “jump on the treadmill of terror” in a wider conflagration.
“Terror is the fundamental evil,” said Baerbock. “The terror of Hamas must be fought, otherwise there will be no peace and no security — neither for Israel nor for the Palestinians.”
On the other hand, the foreign minister also noted that great suffering in the Gaza Strip risked creating a breeding ground for terrorism and endangering Israel’s rapprochement with Arab neighbors in recent years.
Upon her arrival, Baerbock met Israeli opposition politician Benny Gantz, who has taken a post in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s unity war cabinet. She also met her Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen
While in Jordan on Thursday, Baerbock announced €50 million ($52.9 million) in aid for civilians in the Gaza Strip, where she said Germany would also send medical teams.
Baerbock said her aim of the tour was to express “unwavering solidarity” with Israel and to help ensure Palestinian access to aid.
Ahead of her departure, Baerbock has insisted on Israel’s “right to defend itself against Hamas terror.” She accused the militant group, classified as a terrorist organization by the EU, Israel, and the US, of using Gaza’s civilian population as “human shields” in the conflict with Israel.
Hamas gunmen breached Israel’s heavily fortified Gaza border on October 7 and went on to kill more than 1,400 people — mostly civilians. Israel says the group also took at least 199 people hostage.
Israel has responded to the terror attack with repeated air strikes on Gaza that the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry there says have killed more than 3,470 people, mainly civilians.
Israel has also blocked off supplies to the Palestinian enclave, leaving it with dwindling food, water, and fuel.
Israel strikes southern Gaza
02:04
rc/wmr (dpa, AFP)
