Germany calls on Israel to end West Bank occupation ‘as quickly as possible’

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) - Germany on Wednesday urged for a swift end to Israel’s 57-year-long occupation of the West Bank.

Israel must “in the future end the occupation (of the West Bank) as quickly as possible,” deputy Foreign Ministry spokesman Christian Wagner said at a press briefing in Berlin.

The German government has repeatedly made clear that the ongoing occupation of the West Bank is a major obstacle to a two-state solution.

Meanwhile, Wagner expressed also concern over the latest escalation in the West Bank as Israel has started a new major military offensive in the occupied territories.

“We are very concerned about the situation in the West Bank,” also against the background of increasing violence, the high number of civilian deaths and the extent of rights violations, he said.

As an occupying power, Israel “has also a duty to protect the civilian population," especially when it comes to violent settlers, Wagner added.

The Israeli army killed 11 Palestinians in early Wednesday raids in the northern occupied West Bank.

In a brief statement, the Palestinian Health Ministry said six people in the city of Jenin and five others in Tubas were killed in separate Israeli army incursions.

The Israeli army has confirmed it was carrying out military raids in several areas in northern West Bank, including in Jenin, Tubas and Tulkarem.

In separate statements, Palestinian groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, said their fighters were engaged in clashes with Israeli forces in Jenin and Tulkarem.

Over the past few years, Israeli forces have conducted regular raids in the West Bank, which escalated after the war on Gaza last October, which killed over 40,400 Palestinians.

Palestinians have also been violently attacked by illegal Israeli settlers.

The new deaths bring the toll in the West Bank since Oct. 7 to at least 662 Palestinians and nearly 5,400 others injured by Israeli army fire, according to the Health Ministry.

In a landmark opinion on July 19, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land unlawful and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.​​​​​​​