German FM announces 50 million euros in aid for Gazan civilians

BERLIN — German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announces 50 million euros in aid for civilians in the Gaza Strip, on the first stage of a mini-tour of the Middle East.

Germany is also preparing to send medical teams into the Gaza Strip, she adds, according to a statement from her ministry.

The aim of her tour, she says, is to express “unwavering solidarity” and to help ensure Palestinian access to aid.

She announces the aid package in Jordan, the first stage of her tour of the region, which will also take in Lebanon and Israel.

“Our message is clear,” she says at a news conference in Amman with Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, according to her ministry.

“We don’t abandon the innocent Palestinian mothers, fathers and children.”

Before her departure, Baerbock insisted on Israel’s “right to defend itself against Hamas terror” and accused the terror group of using the civilian population of the Gaza Strip as “human shields” in its conflict with Israel.

Hamas terrorists broke through Israel’s heavily fortified Gaza border on October 7, killing more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians, and taking at least 199 people hostage, according to Israel.

Israel has responded to the attacks with relentless airstrikes on Gaza that the Hamas-controlled health ministry claims have killed more than 3,470 people, mainly civilians.