“APalestinian leaders we say clearly: turn away from this terror. Nothing can justify it”, Baerbock stressed in a statement before an emergency meeting of European diplomats with the heads of Israeli diplomacy, Eli Cohen, and Palestinian diplomats, Riyad al-Maliki.
“As the Palestinian Authority, you have obligations, including towards your own population”, added the German minister.
The emergency meeting takes place in a hybrid format, after another meeting in Muscat, capital of Oman, with the High Representative of the European Union, Josep Borrell, several European ministers and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
At the end of these initial talks, the EU and the GCC called for “sustainable financial support to the United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency and continued humanitarian and development assistance to Palestinians in the occupied territories”.
The EU announced on Monday that it would carry out a review of its support program for Palestinian development, following the Hamas attack on Israel, specifying that humanitarian aid would not be at stake.
Germany is against the suspension of humanitarian support for the Palestinian population, as are other countries in the European Union, including.
This humanitarian aid, worth almost 73 million euros in 2023, is mainly used for food and medical support, stated the German Government.
Germany has committed to investing 250 million euros in the development of the Palestinian territories.
Half of the investment will be applied throughout 2023 and 2024 to long-term projects, such as water supply, the construction of a desalination plant and job creation for young people. The other half will be handed over to the UN.
The Islamic group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israeli territory on Saturday under the name of operation “Storm al-Aqsa”, with the launch of thousands of rockets and the incursion of armed militiamen by land, sea and air.
In response to the surprise attack, Israel bombed several Hamas facilities in the Gaza Strip from the air, in an operation it dubbed “Iron Swords”.
More than 1,000 people have been killed in Israel since the offensive began on Saturday, according to authorities. On the Palestinian side, 687 people were killed following Israeli bombings on the Gaza Strip, according to local authorities.
Today, Israel announced that it found around 1,500 bodies of Hamas fighters on its territory.
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Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2417426/alemanha-insta-palestina-a-distanciar-se-do-terror-do-hamas
