‘The pressure should not be placed on Israel … but on Hamas’: Israel’s deputy UN envoy
Israel’s Deputy Ambassador to the UN Jonathan Miller has just spoken at the UN Security Council (UNSC) session. Here is a quick summary of what he said:
- The Israeli military “is preparing to take control of Gaza City,” Miller said, adding “Israel has no plans or desire to permanently occupy Gaza”.
- He reiterated Israel’s “five principles for concluding the war” as announced by PM Netanyahu earlier.
- He claimed Hamas is “exploiting” the captives and Gaza’s population to “maintain its position, benefiting from attempts to pressure Israel and from the willingness of some countries to recognise a Palestinian state”.
- “The pressure should not be placed on Israel, who suffered the most horrific attack against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, but on Hamas”, he said.
- He said the UNSC has urgently convened to “chastise” Israel, and urged it to channel its urgency “towards dismantling Hamas, towards freeing our hostages, towards ensuring that such atrocities never happen again”.
Germany stands with Israel but cannot back seizing Gaza City: Merz
Chancellor Friedrich Merz says Germany cannot actively support Israel’s plans to expand military operations in Gaza and seize Gaza City, but continues to be a staunch ally of Israel.
“Where are these people supposed to go?” Merz asked in an interview with public broadcaster ARD, in reference to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians expected to be displaced once again. “We can’t do that, we won’t do that, and I will not do that.”
Merz said Berlin cannot provide more weapons in a conflict “that is now being pursued exclusively by military means”.
“Germany has stood firmly by Israel’s side for 80 years. That will not change,” the chancellor emphasised.
Before and throughout the war, Germany has been Israel’s second-biggest weapons supplier after the US. But it recently said it would stop supplying weapons that would be used in the war on Gaza.
Merz’s comments come after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today told reporters that the German chancellor “buckled under pressure” to stop arming Israel amid catastrophic conditions in Gaza.
