German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Israel today (Sunday) for the second time since the war broke out, meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu and holding a joint press conference with him.
Prime Minister Netanyahu started by saying that Israel has no future so long as Hamas exists and if it is not collapsed, it will return again to try and harm Israelis citizens. That being said, Netanyahu clarified that unprecedented steps were being made to increase humanitarian aid from the air, land, and sea, noting that the main problem is distributing the aid once it arrives.
Scholz said that his country continues to support Israel’s war on Hamas: “We will not forget the victims. These dark days, we stand with Israel and it has the right to defend itself.”
The Two State Solution and Peace with Saudi Arabia
Scholz noted that he insisted that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip be handled for the sake of Gazan residents: “The civilian casualties are very high, some will say too high.” In his view, there are ways to achieve Israel’s war aims at a lower civilian cost: “We cannot see Gazans starving to death.”
“Terror can not be stopped with only military means, you need diplomatic activity, too. We believe we need to improve the introduction of humanitarian aid and its distribution within the Strip.”
Regarding the situation on the northern border, Scholz made it clear that Hezbollah must remove itself from the border, and that Germany is working to implement UN Resolution 1701 along with the international community.
Scholz also called for a reform of the Palestinian Authority, but insisted on the “two state” solution, which would lead to normalization with Saudi Arabia and the Arab world.
