14 October 2024•Update: 14 October 2024
BERLIN
Germany on Monday reiterated its support for Israel’s brutal military offensive in Gaza, despite growing civilian casualties in recent days.
“We see no signs that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza,” German Foreign Ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer told a press briefing in Berlin.
His remarks came hours after Israeli warplanes hit tents housing displaced Palestinians at Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza, killing at least four civilians, and injuring dozens.
Videos from the scene showed some Palestinian civilians burned alive, while rescuers were struggling to save people and contain the fire in the hospital’s courtyard.
It followed the death of 22 people, including 15 children, in another airstrike on a UNRWA school sheltering displaced civilians in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
Fischer denied recent media reports that claimed German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock blocked weapons exports to Israel, and demanded assurances from Tel Aviv that German weapons will not be used in a genocide.
“We have spoken here often, we have presented this before the International Court of Justice, the minister has spoken out, and our position has not changed,” Fischer said.
“We see no signs that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. In this light, you may also be able to assess the reporting, and the accuracy of this reporting,” he said, referring to the story by Bild newspaper.
Germany has been a staunch ally of Israel, and government officials have repeatedly said the country bears special responsibility for Israel’s security due to its Nazi past.
Since Israel launched its war against Hamas in Gaza last October, it has killed more than 42,200 Palestinians and injured more than 98,400 more, mostly women and children.
Israel is facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the besieged enclave, where millions of Palestinians are displaced, facing famine and acute shortages of medical aid and other essentials.
