Israel should refrain from a ground offensive in Gaza: Former German envoy

By Anadolu staff

BERLIN (AA) - Israel should refrain from launching a ground offensive in Gaza and diplomatic talks should be revived for a two-state solution, a prominent former German ambassador said late Tuesday.

Christoph Heusgen, who had also served as a foreign policy adviser for former Chancellor Angela Merkel, warned that a ground offensive could hamper normalization between Israel and Arab countries, and trigger a wider conflagration in the Middle East.

“That’s also what others are warning about, like those who are involved in talks to free the hostages, that’s what Qatar is saying, that’s what Egypt is saying,” Heusgen told public broadcaster ZDF, and called for a de-escalation in the conflict.

“US President (Joe) Biden, former President (Barack) Obama, are also saying this, based on their experiences with the US military operations after 9/11 and their consequences, that Israel should not overreact now out of anger and hatred,” he said.

Heusgen was Merkel’s top security and foreign policy adviser between 2005 and 2017, and he served as Germany’s ambassador to the UN from 2017 to 2021. He is currently the chairman of the Munich Security Conference.

The experienced diplomat said all the parties should now work to revive diplomacy, and enable the resumption of talks for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“There has to be a diplomatic solution. Of course, first of all, everything has to be done now to enable the release of the hostages. Then you have to prevent this from turning into a widespread conflagration, and for that Israeli troops should not stage an incursion into the Gaza Strip,” Heusgen said.

“And then we have to return to talks for a diplomatic solution to the conflict. We have to revive the two-state solution, which is the applicable legal framework, and Israel should also contribute to this. Maybe one cannot imagine this at the moment, but this is the only way out of this turmoil,” he added.