The Federal Foreign Minister has welcomed the ceasefire in Gaza. Alongside the desperately needed aid for the civilian population, negotiations leading to a permanent armistice should now be begun swiftly, he said.
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"I hope that the ceasefire can be successfully extended into a more long term ceasefire, to bring the interminable suffering of the civilian population to an end at long last, " declared Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The images of the many children killed and injured should be a wake up call for everyone, he said. The parties now need to create the right conditions to prevent a prompt repeat of this tragedy.
The Federal Foreign Minister thanked everyone who helped bring about the truce, especially the Egyptian government. The ceasefire, he said, now needs to be used first and foremost to get urgently needed aid to the people, to treat the injured and to mitigate the dramatic humanitarian situation facing Gaza’s families.
At the same time Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for swift talks to negotiate a lasting armistice. This will involve ending the threat posed to Israel by Hamas’ missiles and tunnels and finally giving the people in Gaza the prospect of a better life.
In a newspaper article the Federal Foreign Minister has specified two preconditions for a long-term solution in the Middle East: Hamas’ weapons must not represent a constant military threat to Israel, and the people in Gaza must be given prospects of better living conditions.
The status quo in Gaza is untenable, as demonstrated by the recurrent military clashes over recent years, wrote Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in the German Sunday newspaper "Welt am Sonntag".
Almost two million people live there in an extremely confined area, "cut off from the outside world, more than half of them children and adolescents". And this city, which is home to over a million people, is controlled by a group that rejects Israel’s right to exist and stores its weapons in homes and schools, stated Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
One step towards a long-term solution "could be to open the border and have it monitored by international bodies to prevent arms being smuggled in". In his article, the Federal Foreign Minister thus once again proposed that the EU border mission EUBAM Rafah (European Union Border Assistance Mission at the Rafah Crossing Point) be reactivated.
The role of a legitimate and trustworthy partner in Gaza must once again be assumed by the Palestinian Authority and President Abbas. "Hamas, which demands the destruction of the State of Israel, cannot play this part," declared the Federal Foreign Minister unequivocally.
The Federal Foreign Office is providing another 8.5 million euros in humanitarian aid for Gaza. Federal Foreign Minister Steinmeier said, "The escalation of violence in Gaza is once again causing many people great suffering and driving huge numbers from their homes. As is so often the case, it is those whose life is already difficult that are worst hit. We must not forget these people during the current crisis."
The humanitarian aid is supporting various emergency measures, in particular the measures of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and those of non-governmental organisations working in the fields of food aid and health care.
Since the start of the crisis, the German government has made available a total of nine million euros in humanitarian aid.