German FM says ‘purely military approach’ not the solution in Gaza

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock reacts during a meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on September 6, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Friday (September 6, 2024) that a military approach alone was not the solution to Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“The past weekend has dramatically demonstrated that a purely military approach is no solution to the situation in Gaza,” she told reporters after meeting with her Israeli counterpart Israel Katz in the coastal Israeli city of Tel Aviv.

Ms. Baerbock was referring to the recovery of six more dead hostages announced on Sunday.

Their deaths have ramped up domestic pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seal a deal with Hamas for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage exchange deal, though the two sides have traded blame over stalled talks this week.

Ms. Baerbock on Friday called for “a ceasefire now” and also spoke out against hawkish statements by Israeli officials about the West Bank, where the army on August 28 launched a raid in multiple cities that has left at least 36 dead.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right national security minister, said in a post on X on Friday that he had asked Netanyahu to make the defeat of Hamas “and other terrorist organisations” in the West Bank one of the aims of the war in Gaza.

“When members of the Israeli government themselves call for the same approach in the West Bank as in Gaza, that is precisely what acutely endangers Israel’s security,” Ms. Baerbock said.

Her comments came one day after German police shot dead a man who opened fire on them in what they treated as a foiled “terrorist attack” on Munich’s Israeli consulate on the anniversary of the 1972 Olympic Games killings.

Ms. Baerbock said she had “expressed my deepest and full solidarity” with Katz.

“This is a terrible situation. This is a terrible moment for us, especially on the very anniversary of Munich 1972,” she said.