German president presses Israel on resuming aid to Gaza

BERLIN, Germany — German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier urges Israel to resume humanitarian aid to Gaza immediately, speaking alongside his Israeli counterpart in Berlin.

At a press conference at the presidential palace, Steinmeier says that Israel must “ensure that humanitarian aid reaches the people of Gaza as quickly as possible… not at some future point, but now.”

Steinmeier, hosting President Isaac Herzog for a visit celebrating 60 years of diplomatic ties between Israel and Germany, stresses Berlin’s long decades of friendship, but adds that “part of friendship is to talk about problems.”

He notes that the aid agency UNRWA, which Israel has accused of being entangled with Hamas, “is not a worthy partner, so we have to find alternatives” for the distribution of aid.

Herzog calls on the international community to take part in a new aid mechanism to “enable the distribution of aid directly to the people of Gaza,” appealing to “the international community, international NGOs and the UN to study the plan in depth and join us.”

Asked if Germany will host Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu despite an arrest warrant against him by the International Criminal Court, Steinmeier says it is a question for new Chancellor Friedrich Merz, but he hints that it may not be wise for the premier to visit.

“I hope both sides will be wise enough to not have to make the decision whether to act on an international arrest warrant against the prime minster of Israel,” says Steinmeier.

The German president also notes a “window of opportunity” for Israel to forge additional regional partnerships, noting his own recent trips to “Cairo, Amman, Qatar and especially Riyadh.” Steinmeier says there is “an openness that I haven’t seen before” toward a larger regional deal, referencing the potential of Saudi-Israeli normalization.

Speaking alongside Steinmeier, Herzog says that “there is nothing I want more than to shake the hands of Sheikh Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, as a rapprochement of Jew and Muslim in the region.”