German foreign minister to head to Saudi Arabia for Gaza talks

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) - German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will head on Monday to Saudi Arabia for talks on the future of war-ravaged Gaza, a ministry spokesman said on Friday.

“The visit will be about working on de-escalation and progress towards a peaceful future in the many different crisis flashpoints in the Middle East,” Sebastian Fischer told journalists in Berlin.

Though not officially announced, reports suggested Saudi Arabia plans to host a meeting in Riyadh on Monday to discuss Gaza’s future with officials including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron and key officials from the EU, Jordan, Egypt, and Qatar.

Israel has waged a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

More than 34,300 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 77,300 others injured besides mass destruction, displacement and severe shortages of necessities.

Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries have strongly criticized Israel's war on Gaza and demanded an immediate cease-fire, while Germany, the US, UK and EU are also pressuring Tel Aviv to allow more aid to the Palestinian enclave to ease the humanitarian crisis and prevent a famine.

They have also urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to attack the Gazan city of Rafah.