Germany criticizes Netanyahu’s post-war Gaza plan

BERLIN

Germany on Wednesday sharply criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recently unveiled plan for post-war Gaza.

Sebastian Fischer, the German Foreign Ministry spokesman, underlined that finding a solution to Gaza’s post-war order must include all relevant parties, above all the Palestinian Authority, and the neighboring Arab states.

“The current version of the plan calls for Israel’s indefinite security control over the entire area west of Jordan, including the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, also the Area A administered by the Palestinian Authority, and the plan explicitly rejects a two-state solution,” Fischer told a news conference in Berlin.

“If implemented, the plan would be incompatible with the G7 guidelines, and would also violate the Oslo Accords with regard to the West Bank. For us, it is clear that long-term security for Israel can only be achieved if the security and rights of the Palestinians are also guaranteed,” he stressed.

Fischer said during their meeting in Tokyo last November, the G7 group of leading industrial democracies laid out a guideline for a post-conflict order in Gaza, which ruled out reoccupation of Gaza by Israel.

“According to this, Gaza must no longer pose a threat to Israel, but it also includes that there must be no permanent occupation or a reduction in the size of Gaza's territory,” he said.

Fischer reiterated that Germany continues to advocate a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Any plan that ignores this will not create peace, and without a Palestinian state there will be no sustainable peace, not for Israel, not for the Israelis, and not for the Palestinians,” he stressed.