Berlin (dpa) – Germany, France, Egypt and Jordan have demanded an immediate ceasefire in response to the latest outbreak of violence between Israelis and Palestinians. “With every new day on which people die, there will only be more losers, and no winners. Anywhere. The bloodshed must therefore stop now,” demanded Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock following a so-called Munich-format meeting with the Egyptian Foreign Minister Samih Schukri, his Jordanian counterpart Aiman al-Safadi and French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna in Berlin.
All four ministers voiced support once again for a two-state solution as the basis for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. “There is nothing more dangerous than a sense of hopelessness,” warned Baerbock. Adding that this was why Israelis and Palestinians needed to see a prospect of how they and their children could live safely in peace. She admitted that the reality of the situation makes implementing the two-state solution increasingly difficult and causes the political costs for both sides to spiral ever higher. “We are not naive about this,” the German foreign minister said. “Yet only the two-state solution offers the opportunity for a fair and long-term solution of the conflict. There is no realistic alternative to it.”