En route to Middle East to push Gaza aid, German FM calls for Hamas to surrender

FRANKFURT — German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is traveling to the Middle East today because not enough help is getting to Gaza and the Israeli government must open the border crossings to a lot more aid, she says in a statement.

Ahead of her trip to Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Baerbock says every aid crate sitting on trucks in front of Gaza’s border fences is one too many.

“Hamas must lay down its arms and never again bring the terror of October 7 to the people of Israel. But this goal cannot be achieved purely militarily,” she says.

Baerbock has visited the region six times since Hamas’s October 7 massacre.

“Airdrops or sea bridges are not a sustainable solution,” the green party politician says, adding that military action has its limits in international humanitarian law.

Baerbock says only an immediate humanitarian ceasefire leading to a permanent cessation of fighting would keep hopes for peace alive and end suffering on all sides.

Only the prospect of a two-state solution with a reformed Palestinian Authority as a first step towards a democratic Palestinian state could offer people a life of security and dignity, she says.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.