Scholzi rejects calls for a longer ceasefire

2023-11-13 08:38:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz believes that an immediate ceasefire or a longer cessation of hostilities by Israel would allow Hamas to recover and buy new rockets.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has dismissed calls from several Arab and Muslim states for a longer ceasefire from Israel. Scholz said he supports pauses for humanitarian reasons so that aid can reach the Gaza Strip or foreign nationals can leave the country, he said at an event for the Heilbronner Stimme newspaper.

At their summit at the end of October, EU countries spoke in favor of providing humanitarian aid to people in the Gaza Strip and evacuating foreigners and the wounded from the besieged Palestinian territory. "And of course we're all fighting for the hostages to be released," Scholz said. "And that's why — and the wording is quite deliberate — that humanitarian ceasefires can make sense."

The chancellor said that calling for an immediate ceasefire or a longer cessation of hostilities does not seem fair, "because it ultimately means that Israel must allow Hamas to recover, buy new rockets to 'used them again,'' Scholz said. "Therefore we will not be able to accept this."

Scholz: Israel has the right to defend itself

The demand of Islamic states is not that of the federal government, which sides with Israel. Israel has the right to defend itself, Chancellor Scholz said. He said he thinks Israel respects international law. On the other hand, he said that at the same time, the Israeli government must ensure that there are no attacks by Jewish settlers against the Palestinian population in the West Bank.

The German chancellor spoke once again about the prospect of a two-state solution. Five weeks after Hamas's brutal attack on Israel sparked the war in the Gaza Strip, calls for a ceasefire are growing. The Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) called for an end to Israel's "brutal aggression" in the Gaza Strip during a recent summit in Saudi Arabia.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday (12.11) called on the United States to force Israel to stop its offensive in the Gaza Strip. "It is vital that we reach a ceasefire", Erdogan said./ DW