Baerbock for two-state solution
Germany increases humanitarian aid for Gaza
October 19, 2023, 10:33 p.m
Foreign Minister Baerbock is promoting understanding in the Middle East. At a meeting with her counterpart in Jordan, she promised to increase humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. But they also look into the more distant future – and the question of how Israelis and Palestinians will live together in the future.
Germany is increasing its support for the suffering civilian population in the Gaza Strip with emergency humanitarian aid worth 50 million euros. The money will be used to support international organizations such as the World Food Program, the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF and, above all, the United Nations Palestinian Relief Agency (UNRWA), Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced during a joint appearance with her Jordanian colleague Ayman al-Safadi in Jordan’s capital Amman .
It’s about help for “the Palestinians who were also victims of this terrorist attack by Hamas,” said Baerbock. Germany is concentrating on improving health care in particular. “We are preparing to be able to send medical teams to Gaza and also create opportunities for seriously injured children in particular to be treated.”
The Islamist Hamas attacked Israel with a bloody terrorist attack on October 7th. Israel then announced that it wanted to destroy Hamas. The humanitarian situation of many people in the Gaza Strip has now deteriorated dramatically.
Call for a political solution to the Gaza war
Baerbock and Al-Safadi called for a negotiated solution to the Gaza war, which must result in a two-state solution. At the same time, they emphasized that they wanted to do everything they could to prevent a conflagration in the Middle East region. It was the second meeting between Baerbock and Al-Safadi within a week: the Federal Foreign Minister had already received her colleague in Berlin for consultations on Monday.
The Federal Foreign Minister wants to travel to Israel on Friday and then to Lebanon. In order to coordinate support for the civilian population in Gaza, Baerbock announced that she had appointed a special envoy for humanitarian aid issues in the Middle East. Deike Potzel, head of the crisis prevention and stabilization department at the Federal Foreign Office (AA), should maintain close contact with the region for as long as necessary.
Baerbock: Unwavering solidarity with Israel
Baerbock once again assured Israel of the federal government’s “unwavering solidarity”. The Federal Foreign Minister spoke of a dilemma that Israel is also facing. This is how Hamas terror must be combated. At the same time, further civilian victims are breeding ground for further terrorism – and this leads to a division of those states in the region that are working on peace and security in the region.
Al-Safadi said Jordan is seeking an end to the war through all diplomatic channels. An expansion of the war would only have more devastating consequences for the Palestinians.
More help for Palestine called for
The Commissioner General of the UN Palestinian Relief Agency (UNRWA) in the Middle East, Philippe Lazzarini, called on Germany to continue supporting the Palestinians. Germany is the second largest donor. “I expect that Germany will continue to support UNRWA,” he said before a meeting with Baerbock in Amman. There is a very strong concern “that the world is abandoning the Palestinians.”
Baerbock praised Jordan’s efforts to free the Hamas hostages, including German citizens. It is “important that we join forces because we have different accesses and channels.” As a partner in the region, Jordan has more intensive channels than the federal government.