German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza, speaking in a phone call on Sunday.
Scholz emphasized that while there have been many military achievements in the 10-month fight against the Hamas terrorist organization, there has also been a tremendous toll of civilian casualties and human suffering, a government spokesperson in Berlin said.
“An end to the war in Gaza would be a decisive step towards a regional de-escalation,” the spokesperson continued, adding that Scholz told Netanyahu that it is time to break what Reuters described as “the destructive cycle of retaliatory violence in the Middle East.”
In a subsequent post on X, Scholz said that Berlin condemns “the threats from Iran, Hezbollah and others” against the Jewish state.
“The destructive spiral of retaliation must be broken. It’s time for an agreement to release the hostages and a ceasefire,” he added.
On Friday, Scholz tweeted support for the previous day’s call by the United States, Egypt and Qatar for an immediate conclusion to the indirect talks between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire-and-hostage release-for-terrorists agreement.
“I am deeply concerned about the situation in the Middle East and I support the call by President Biden, President [Abdel Fattah] Al Sisi and Emir [Tamim bin Hamad] Al Thani to start the implementation of the ceasefire and hostages-release deal. It’s time to bring relief both to the hostages and people of Gaza,” Scholz wrote.
The statement, signed by Biden, al-Sisi and Tamim, called on both sides to resume urgent talks on Aug. 15 in either Doha or Cairo.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office stated almost immediately that it would send a negotiating delegation on Thursday.
“Pursuant to the proposal by the U.S. and the mediators, Israel will—on August 15—send the negotiations team to a place to be determined in order to finalize the details of the implementation of the framework agreement,” it said.
