German peace study criticizes Israel’s ‘intolerable’ deadly military campaign in Gaza

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) - Four leading German peace research institutes on Monday strongly criticized Israel’s brutal military campaign in Gaza, calling it “intolerable.”

“Israel goes beyond the legitimate exercise of its right to self-defense and violates international humanitarian law,” said Ursula Schroeder, who presented the annual peace study at a news conference in Berlin.

“The Federal (German) government should therefore vigorously advocate for the interests of the Palestinian population, who are exposed to extreme destruction, displacement, death and hunger in Gaza. The rules of international humanitarian law must be observed, in particular the principles of military necessity and the proportionality of hostilities,” she added.

Schroeder urged the German government “to ensure that the decisions of the international courts are abided by," and also called for a “suspension of small arms and ammunition that could be used in Gaza until the end of the war.”

The peace expert stressed that the recognition of Palestine as an independent state was in fact the "right path towards a long-term political solution of the conflict.”

Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 37,100 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and nearly 84,700 others injured, according to local health authorities.

More than eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.