Diplomacy: Baerbock in Israel: These days we are all Israelis

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has assured Israel of full German solidarity after the terrorist attack by the Islamist Hamas.

“In these terrible days we stand by your side and feel with you. In these days we are all Israelis,” said the Green politician at a meeting with her Israeli colleague Eli Cohen in Netivot in southern Israel near the Gaza border. stripes. The country has Germany’s solidarity and support – “wherever this is necessary, wherever this becomes necessary.” She emphasized: “Israel’s security is a matter of state for us.”

Cohen said: “Thank you for coming during these difficult times to show support and solidarity with the State of Israel.” Hamas, which rules in the Gaza Strip, is worse than the terrorist network Islamic State (IS). Peaceful coexistence is impossible. “You can’t even call them animals.” Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz has also made his support for Israel very clear, said Cohen. “The Jewish people, the citizens of Israel and the entire world say ‘Never again’ to such scenes of children being taken into a room and murdered.”

When asked how Germany would support Israel politically and possibly militarily, Baerbock said: “With everything Israel needs from us.” She added: “And with everything, that means with everything.” What is needed is “what the Israeli government gives us. And we will then comply with that accordingly.”

“Release these innocent people”

The minister made an emotional appeal to Hamas to release the kidnapped hostages. Not only as German Foreign Minister, but as a person and mother, she appeals to Hamas and its allies: “Let these innocent people go, release these innocent little girls.” This is “the expectation of all those who stand on the side of humanity.” Baerbock had previously held discussions with relatives of abducted nationals in the city’s crisis center.

The Federal Foreign Minister appealed to countries such as Qatar and Egypt, which had direct communication channels, to work for the release of the hostages. There are also suspected to be a single-digit number of German dual nationals among the approximately 150 hostages.

Israel has the right and duty to free its nationals, said Baerbock. And the country has the right to “defend itself against this brutal, barbaric terror” within the framework of international law. Hamas’ terror is also directed against the Palestinians themselves. “That’s why we all have to call out this terror against humanity with a common voice and condemn it,” added Baerbock.

Baerbock has to go to shelter because of a rocket alarm

The press conference with Cohen took place in the presence of relatives. At Cohen’s request, both ministers visited a residential building that had been hit by a Hamas rocket. According to information from the Foreign Office, grandfather, father and son were killed. In the afternoon, Baerbock and her delegation in Tel Aviv had to temporarily go to a shelter because of a rocket alarm. After 15 minutes the alarm was canceled. She then spoke on the phone with Benny Gantz, who is a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s emergency government.

Hamas has taken the entire population of Gaza hostage, with their weapons depots and command centers deliberately located in residential buildings, supermarkets, universities and perhaps even hospitals, said Baerbock. This poses incredible challenges for everyone who wants to fight terror because democracies take the protection of the civilian population seriously. “That’s what separates us democracies from terrorists. And that’s why we’re stronger. The script of terror must not get caught up.”

Next stop on Baerbock’s crisis diplomacy: Egypt

Baerbock criticized that Hamas had caused an entire region to be in turmoil with its terror. Hamas wants to start a conflagration where there have recently been cautious steps towards rapprochement. “It is now important to prevent other actors in the region, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, from adding fuel to the fire,” said the Federal Foreign Minister. We are also in contact with partners in the region. Baerbock wanted to travel on to Egypt for crisis talks that evening.

With regard to the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Baerbock said that the reception capacity in the south of the Gaza Strip was already overloaded. The UN therefore viewed the Israeli army’s order to leave the northern Gaza Strip as unrealistic. We are in close contact with the UN and various actors, such as Egypt. “But it is also clear: Hamas, with its terror on Israel, is entirely responsible for this terrible situation,” said the Foreign Minister.

US Secretary of State Austin in Israel

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also assured Israel of further military support. “We have increased U.S. fighter jet squadrons in the Middle East, and the U.S. Department of Defense is fully prepared to deploy additional assets if necessary,” he said at a joint news conference with Israel’s Defense Minister Joav Galant. The USA has announced that it will relocate the aircraft carrier “USS Gerald R. Ford” and other warships to the eastern Mediterranean.

EU representatives also on a solidarity visit

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also paid a solidarity visit to Israel on Friday. She was accompanied by EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola. The politicians wanted to meet the Israeli leadership, von der Leyen said on the online platform X (formerly Twitter). Metsola wrote on X that terror would not win. “We can – we must – stop Hamas.” The two politicians also had to go to the shelter during the meeting with President Izchak Herzog because of a missile alarm, according to a spokesman for the president.