For “barbaric, outrageous” actions, which “are not justified in any way“, said the chancellor Olaf Solzreferring to the attack launched by Hamas against Israel and stating that Germany “stands firmly and unwaveringly on Israel’s side in the face of this terrible attack». Israel”has the right to defend itself against these barbaric attacks, to protect its citizens and to prosecute the attackers“, emphasized the chancellor.

“The security of Israel is “the reason of our state” and this is especially true in difficult times like these. We will act accordingly“, Mr. Soltz declared a while ago, after a telephone conversation he had with him Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. “The news arriving from Israel since yesterday deeply shocks us. Hundreds of Israelis have been killed. Thousands of rockets were fired into Israel by terrorists in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, heavily armed militants invaded Israel, entered the homes of innocent civilians, indiscriminately murdered women, men and children and took dozens of hostages in the Gaza Strip. These acts are barbaric. They are outrageous and have no justification whatsoever. Absolutely nothing“, Mr. Soltz said in his statement and expressed the hope that Israel’s security forces will soon be able to free all the prisoners of the terrorists. “To be clear: Israel has the right to defend itself against these barbaric attacks, to protect its citizens and to prosecute the attackers“, the chancellor said and added that within the day he will also have a phone call with the President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who, as he noted, is trying to mediate in order to de-escalate this difficult situation. “We will be happy to support Egypt in this endeavour“, said the chancellor, who will also speak by phone with him later President of the USA, Joe Bidenwith the President of France, Emmanuel Macronand with the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak.

“One thing is clear: we condemn the actions of Hamas in the strongest terms. Above all, we are doing everything we can to ensure that this attack does not turn into a wildfire with incalculable consequences for the entire region. And we warn everyone not to fuel and perpetuate terrorism in this situationOlaf Solz continued. Referring to incidents of celebrations by Hamas supporters in Berlin yesterday, he warned that “demonstrations in our streets in support of the heinous attacks against Israel will not be tolerated“, to add: “The suffering, destruction and death of so many people cannot be a cause of joy for anyone».

As Mr. Soltz pointed out, the office of the Federal President, the Federal Parliament and the Chancellery raised the Israeli flag from yesterday, while the Brandenburg Gate was also lit up in the colors of Israel. “All of these are visible evidence of our unwavering support for the State of Israel“, the chancellor characteristically said and noted that security measures have been increased at the facilities of Israeli and Jewish institutions.