Live ticker for the war in the Middle East: Israel is planning naval deployment on Lebanon's coast

On the anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed hope for an end to violence in the Middle East. It is part of Germany’s responsibility to stand by Israel if the homeland of the Jews is attacked, Steinmeier explained on Monday. But one also feels that in the war in the Middle East, the “principles that guide us come up against a painful, even contradictory reality,” said his speech at a memorial ceremony in Berlin. The Federal President remembered the 1,170 murdered and 255 kidnapped: “We mourn with those who have lost their loved ones. We suffer with those who are still afraid for their relatives.” Steinmeier emphasized that the release of the hostages must remain the highest priority: “You have to come home!”

“This war has already killed too many people and brought too much suffering: for Israelis and Palestinians, and now also for the people of Lebanon,” emphasized Steinmeier. “The people in Gaza have also been experiencing immeasurable suffering for a year, every single day.” Many have lost their lives, many have to flee again and again, are hungry and sick. “The questions are becoming louder and more urgent, including the public debate – less about whether Israel has a right to self-defense, but about where the limits of every right to self-defense lie,” explained the Federal President.

For the Germans, the obligation of “never again” and the mandate that reality must become better remains, he added. A reality in which Israelis and Palestinians can live peacefully side by side will not be achieved through military means alone. A political perspective is necessary. Steinmeier also expressed his horror at anti-Semitism in Germany and the insecurity among Jews in Germany, some of whom were sitting on packed suitcases. As German Federal President, this hurts him deeply. In German schools and universities, in cultural institutions, on the streets and in the media, one can experience “how this war in the Middle East threatens to tear us apart.”

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