Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday stressed the need to “advance” humanitarian aid for people in Gaza but doubled down on Germany’s unconditional support for Israel as EU leaders were wrangling over the wording of their EU summit communiqué.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Scholz stressed the importance of “advancing” humanitarian aid for people in Gaza, freeing hostages held by Hamas and avoiding an escalation of conflict.
“Israel is a democratic state guided by very humanitarian principles and so we can be certain that the Israeli army will respect the rules that arise from international law in everything it does,” Scholz said, emphasising his belief that the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) would abide by international law: “I have no doubt about that.”
His comments came at Thursday’s EU summit in Brussels, after days of discussions on how to call for a pause in the Israel-Hamas war to get urgently needed humanitarian aid into Gaza, EU leaders were to work out the exact wording of their statement.
EU diplomats said Germany and other steadfast supporters of Israel sought to moderate any wording of the final summit communiqué that could be seen as contradictory to Israel’s right to defend itself.
Scholz’s remarks, however, contrasted sharply with comments made in recent days by the EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell and European Council President Charles Michel, who both have hinted a total blockade of Gaza and attacks on civilian infrastructure would contravene international humanitarian law.
Some EU diplomats asked about Scholz’s comments and wondered whether the German chancellor’s doubling down on the matter could also be read as a subtle warning towards Tel Aviv to abide by international humanitarian law.
(Nick Alipour | Euractiv.de)
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