German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrived in Tel Aviv on Sunday afternoon for a two-day visit to Israel, following an invitation from his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog.
Steinmeier is accompanied by Bundestag President Bärbel Bas. The trip is seen as a special sign of solidarity with Israel, which was attacked by the terrorist group Hamas on October 7, resulting in some 1,200 killed and about 240 kidnapped.
Steinmeier and his wife Elke Büdenbender, who is also on the trip, are close friends with Herzog and his wife. Political talks between the two presidents were planned for Sunday.
The German president will also visit Oman and Qatar.
In a video message on Saturday, Steinmeier emphasized Israel’s right to self-defence against Hamas. However, he also called for compliance with humanitarian rules. Every precaution to get civilians out of the line of fire was necessary and civilians must be supplied with essentials, he said.
“That is what international humanitarian law demands, and that is what we Germans also expect.”
Steinmeier argued in favour of a two-state solution in the long term, in which Israelis and Palestinians could live peacefully side by side.
He has criticized the fact that the opportunity for this has been missed due to Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank.
Source: dpa.
