German Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned those who “glorified and celebrated” the terror attacks in Israel and announced a ban on Hamas activities in Germany.
More than 1,300 people were killed in the large-scale attacks that saw thousands of rockets fired from Gaza and then hundreds of Hamas militants entering southern Israel. ‘We share your suffering’ — Scholz. “Over 1,000 citizens of Israel have been killed in these terror acts. Thousands of them were severely injured and are fighting for their lives in the hospitals of Israel. In a country with 9 million inhabitants, that means that nearly everybody knows one of the victims,” Scholz said in a speech at the Bundestag, Germany’s lower house of parliament.
“In the whole country of Israel currently, there is mourning … Dear friends in Israel, we mourn with you and we share your suffering,” the chancellor said. Scholz slammed the actions of Hamas and said Israel was entitled to defend itself. “We condemn the terrorists and we say very clearly, Israel has the right under international law to defend its citizens against such acts of barbarism,” he said. “The safety in Israel and for Israel must be restored, and that is why Israel must have the capacity to defend itself. At the moment there is only one place for Germany, the place, side by side with Israel. This is what we mean when we say the security of Israel is Germany’s raison d’etre.”
Scholz warned countries in the region not to show hostility against Israel and said, “It would be a mistake to attack Israel, and that mistake would not be forgiven.” Scholz said the Hamas attacks had repercussions and said that he had yet to see condemnation from Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas. “I say, your silence is a disgrace and all our development cooperation with Palestinians will be reexamined, and we will see how our projects can support peace in the region and support the security of Israel. “Until this review is completed, we will not provide any new development cooperation funds,” Scholz added.
Read more here