German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Sunday he believed “a lasting peace is possible” in Gaza under the US-brokered peace plan currently in place despite sporadic violations of the ceasefire.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Merz said Germany was providing humanitarian aid to Gaza residents and would help rebuild the Palestinian territory.
Meraz also said that Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that has been in power in Gaza since 2007, can have no role in the political future of the Palestinian territory.
The German leader also reiterated his country’s support for Israel, citing its historical responsibility in the wake of the genocide committed by Nazi Germany.
He said this support continued even after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the current Gaza conflict.
However, he called on Israel to follow international law in its military response to the attacks, which killed more than 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages.
Meraz also said Israel should refrain from taking any steps toward annexing the other main Palestinian territory, the occupied West Bank.
Israeli-German relations have been under strain recently due to differences of opinion over the proportionality of Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza, which has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians.
Among other things, Germany imposed a partial embargo on its arms exports to Israel in August over its conduct in Gaza, but lifted this in November when a ceasefire was established under a US-brokered peace plan.