Germany calls for preventing further escalation of Gaza war

BERLIN

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius called Wednesday for preventing a further escalation of the Gaza war after a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York.

Pistorius said he agreed with Guterres that everything must be done to alleviate or end the humanitarian misery of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip when meeting at the United Nations headquarters.

“At the same time, I also know that the dilemma facing the Israelis is great: to do what is necessary and what they have the right to do and at the same time not to allow the suffering of the civilian population to become excessive,” the German Press Agency (dpa) quoted Pistorius saying.

“This is a dilemma that, to a certain extent, we cannot solve from the green (negotiation) table. We must continue to rely on diplomacy and open discussions,” he added.

Earlier in the day, Germany urged Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas to step up diplomatic efforts to reach a cease-fire deal in war-ravaged Gaza.

“It is important for the federal government and the foreign minister that these discussions continue and can lead to a result as far as possible,” deputy Foreign Ministry spokesperson Kathrin Deschauer said at a press briefing in Berlin.

It's about "doing everything we can now, in mutual efforts on both sides to continue talks to come to a solution, to reach a hostage deal so that hostages can be freed and humanitarian aid gets to the people,” she added.

Deschauer stressed that a humanitarian cease-fire could open up “the perspective of entering into a political process.”

On Monday, the Israeli army issued evacuation orders for Palestinians in eastern Rafah in a move widely seen as a prelude to Israel's long-feared attack on the city, home to some 1.5 million displaced Palestinians.

On Tuesday, the army seized control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt, a vital route for humanitarian aid into the besieged territory.

Germany said Tuesday that it was concerned over Israel’s ground offensive into the southern Gazan city of Rafah.

“We all view with concern...the news that there is further movement toward Rafah,” said Jochen Flasbarth, a state secretary from Germany's Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, before a meeting of EU development ministers in Brussels.

“We have all said that Israel must respect international law even in this war situation and we hope that this will happen,” he added.

The German government has pointed out that a large-scale Israeli ground offensive in Rafah would be “a humanitarian catastrophe.”

Berlin has repeatedly “warned and advised against such a large-scale (military) offensive,” Deschauer was quoted as saying on Monday.