Germany says it is ‘not supporting Israeli occupation policy’

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) - Germany said on Monday it is "not supporting the Israeli occupation policy" after the UN court affirmed Palestinians' right to self-determination and ruled that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories must be evacuated.

While Germany supports Israel because of its historical responsibility towards the Jewish state that does “not mean it is supporting Israel’s occupation policy,” deputy Foreign Ministry spokesman Christian Wagner told journalists in Berlin.

It is “primarily up to the Israeli government to draw conclusions from this (UN court) report,” he added

Wagner said his country has repeatedly made clear its “stances and positions on Israeli settlement policy.”

On Friday, the top UN court affirmed Palestinians' right to self-determination and ruled that Israeli settlements in occupied territories must be evacuated.

The court's advisory opinion, delivered in The Hague, declared the occupied Palestinian territories as a "single territorial unit" that must be protected.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.

More than 38,800 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 89,400 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.