Cairo (dpa) – On a visit to Egypt Germany’s Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock issued an urgent appeal to the Islamist Hamas organisation to release all hostages abducted from Israel. Speaking from the capital Cairo, Baerbock said releasing the hostages was “an imperative of humanity.” She also stressed that this was a view strongly shared by all she had spoken to. She also pledged to “work together to do all we can to secure the release of German hostages – and there are of course others of many different nationalities as well.”
Following a meeting with her Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in Cairo, Baerbock indicated that the German government was aware of eight German nationals among the hostages, most of whom were dual nationals. While in Egypt Baerbock also met the Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and the Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
She appealed to Israel to be mindful of the humanitarian situation when fighting Hamas. Baerbock stressed that Hamas bore responsibility for the desperate situation of people in Gaza, but stressed that the battle against Hamas must “be conducted with the greatest possible consideration for the humanitarian situation, innocent women, children and men.” “In this spirit I appeal to all, whether in Germany or in the Arab world, to distinguish between terrorists and the civilian population. The campaign is against Hamas, not the Palestinians.”
Meanwhile Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz held a phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which he again assured the people of Israel that they had Germany’s full support after the devastating terror attacks by Hama. Both leaders agreed “that what matters now is preventing the conflict spreading to the wider region, and in particular ensuring that Hezbollah does not get involved,” said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit after the phone call. Around the world concerns are growing that the conflict could spread much more widely. Many observers are watching Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The group is allied to Hamas and became embroiled in a war with Israel in 2006.
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