German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday that Israel’s recent attacks on Gaza are taking a humanitarian toll on civilians that can no longer be justified as a fight against terrorism.
“Harming the civilian population to such an extent, as has increasingly been the case in recent days, can no longer be justified as a fight against Hamas terrorism,” he told broadcaster WDR in a televised interview.
Merz said he no longer understood the Israeli army’s objective in Gaza.
“Honestly speaking, I no longer understand what the Israeli army is now doing in the Gaza Strip, with what goal,” he said.
Merz added that he planned to hold a call with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week to tell him “to not overdo it.”
He said Berlin must be sparing in its public advice to Israel as with “no other country on earth,” a reference to Germany’s dark history of World War II and the Holocaust.
“The question is: How clearly do we voice criticism now, and for historical reasons I am more reserved,” Merz said.
But he added that “when limits are crossed, when international humanitarian law is being violated... then the German chancellor must speak out too.”
Merz said he wanted Germany to remain “Israel’s most important partner in Europe.”
“But the Israeli government must not do anything that its best friends are no longer willing to accept,” he said.
Agencies
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