Germany urges restraint along Gaza-Israel border

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN (AA) - Germany urged Israel on Friday to show restraint and refrain from taking disproportionate measures during protests at the Gaza-Israel border.

“We are following the incidents in Gaza very closely and with concern,” Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Rainer Breul told a news conference in Berlin.

“All measures to protect Israel’s security interests, and in particular the measures to protect the border, must be proportionate,” he stressed, and warned against the use of excessive force, such as using firearms on demonstrators.

Breul also called on Palestinian authorities to contribute to the de-escalation, and take measures to prevent border violations.

“Of course everyone has the right to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly. But this should not be misused,” he said.

Breul renewed Germany’s call on Israeli authorities to investigate claims of use of excessive force by the Israeli army during protests last week.

At least 21 Gazans have been killed — and more than 1,500 injured — since anti-occupation rallies kicked off in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Demonstrators are demanding that Palestinian refugees be granted the “right of return” to their towns and villages in historical Palestine, from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.

Israel has deployed thousands of troops along the fraught border, vowing to use deadly force against anyone who threatens the “Israeli security infrastructure.”