German Foreign Minister: The process of recognizing Palestine must begin now
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Thursday that Israel is increasingly isolated diplomatically due to the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and the push by some countries to recognize the state of Palestine.
Wadephul, in a statement before leaving for Israel, stressed that the recent UN conference on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which was boycotted by the United States and Israel, shows that Israel increasingly finds itself in the minority.
Vadephul plans to hold talks in Israel and with the Palestinian Authority on Thursday and Friday.
In previous statements to the Politico website’s Berlin Playbook, Vadephul warned of a potential Israeli annexation of Palestinian territories.
“There are politicians in Israel who keep saying we will annex it… The Knesset has already decided on that… Of course, this isn’t permissible, and it’s not justified by international law either,” said Wadephul, a member of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, adding that Germany doesn’t approve of illegal settlements in the West Bank.
“The main goal is definitely a ceasefire,” Vadephul said, while calling for more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.
“The number of casualties in the Gaza Strip is extremely high… We need compassion for the population there,” he said.
Ahead of German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul’s visit to Israel, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), a partner in Germany’s ruling coalition, urged greater pressure on the Israeli government to allow more aid by land to reach the affected residents of the Gaza Strip.
In remarks to German television station ARD on Thursday, the party’s deputy parliamentary bloc leader, Siemme Müller, called for real pressure to end the suffering in the Gaza Strip.
Müller, a member of the delegation accompanying the Foreign Minister during his visit, reiterated the Social Democratic Party’s position that the supply of weapons used in acts that violate international law, such as those carried out in the Gaza Strip, should no longer be permitted.
Also, on Thursday, more than 200 actors, musicians, and media figures in Germany urged Chancellor Friedrich Merz to halt arms supplies to Israel and impose sanctions.
In an open letter, the artists highlighted the suffering of children in the Gaza Strip.
The letter, published Thursday, read, “We also condemn Hamas’s horrific crimes in the strongest possible terms, but no crime justifies the collective punishment of millions of innocent people in the most horrific ways”.
Among the initial signatories of the letter were journalists Yoko Winterscheid and Klaas Hoefer-Umlauf, musicians Shirin David and Tzartmann, actresses Jessica Schwarz, Heike Makatsch, and Liv-Lisa Friese, actors Benno Formann, Daniel Brühl, and Jürgen Vogel, and writer Marc-Uwe Klinge.
The international organization VAZ says it organized this campaign… VAZ describes itself as a global campaign network that aims to influence political decisions through citizen voices.
The letter stated that children who don’t participate in the war, but bear its brunt, are starving and dying in the Gaza Strip.
The signatories added, “More than 17,000 children have been killed to date. Hundreds of thousands are wounded, traumatized, displaced, and starving”.
The signatories commended Meretz’s recent criticism of the Israeli government, but urged the chancellor to take additional steps, including halting all German arms exports to Israel, supporting the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, and demanding an immediate ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian access.
The letter read, “These steps are fully consistent with European values and will make it clear to the Israeli government that even its closest allies can no longer accept the suffering, and that words are no longer enough”.
