Live Update
From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, February 13, 2024
German FM says she is ‘concerned’ about looming IDF operation in Rafah

German Minister of Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock attends a meeting with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh (not pictured) in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. (Ammar Awad /Pool Photo via AP)
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock says she is very concerned about Israel’s announcement that it is planning a large military offensive in Rafah.
“I am especially concerned about the announcement by the Israeli government of a large ground military operation in Rafah,” she says at a news conference with the Palestinian foreign minister in Berlin. “Of course, it is completely clear that also in Rafah, there is an unbelievably large net of [the] Hamas terrorist organization,” she says, adding that Israel has a right to defend itself from terrorism.