BERLIN – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warns that the Israel-Hezbollah conflict could spark a “regional conflagration” after holding talks with visiting former war cabinet minister Benny Gantz.
Gantz was a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet until June, when he quit in protest of the lack of a post-war plan for Gaza.
During a visit to Berlin, Gantz also meets German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and other officials to discuss Israel’s two-front war against Hamas in Gaza and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Scholz posts on X that “Hezbollah must withdraw from the border area of Lebanon” and that “all parties have a responsibility to find a diplomatic solution.”
The German leader, who spoke with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati yesterday, said: “The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah must not become a regional conflagration.”
Scholz’s spokesman says the chancellor added that “Iran also has a responsibility to de-escalate the situation,” and that urgent steps were needed toward a Gaza ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages.
Germany has joined a group of nations that called “for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Lebanon-Israel border.”
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