Germany highlights ‘many important’ unanswered issues after Board of Peace meeting

BERLIN

Germany on Friday welcomed the Board of Peace meeting in Washington, D.C., but stressed that "many important points" have yet to be clarified.

"While we welcome the Board of Peace talks, yesterday's meeting also showed that there are still many important issues to be clarified,” deputy Foreign Ministry spokesman Josef Hinterseher told journalists in Berlin.

“First of all, it is important to us that the international community remains committed to improving the situation in the Gaza Strip, and that is also the focus of the Peace Council (Board of Peace), which is derived from Resolution 2803. This improvement is urgently needed,” he added.

Hinterseher stressed not only “the need for an improvement in the still very difficult humanitarian situation, but also sustainable security structures and administrative structures under Palestinian ownership and responsibility.”

He made clear the reconstruction of Gaza should “be carried out on the basis of international law.”

Germany has only observer status at the Gaza Board of Peace meetings.

Last month, a spokeswoman for the Economic Cooperation and Development Ministry, Lisa Royaee, said there are “clear red lines when it comes to rebuilding (in Gaza), which means no annexation and the focus must be on the population.”

The creation of the board coincided with the launch of phase two of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which halted Israel’s war on Gaza that killed more than 71,000 people in two years.

The board, chaired by Trump, was originally conceived to oversee the ceasefire and reconstruction of Gaza, but its charter expands its mandate to peace-building in all areas affected by or at risk of conflict.