UPDATE - Germany calls for end to war in Gaza

UPDATES WITH MORE COMMENTS BY GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER; CHANGES DECK; EDITS THROUGH

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) - The German foreign minister on Friday called for an end to the war in Gaza amid mounting civilian casualties due to the Israeli onslaught on Palestinians.

“This war in Gaza must finally end. There are no safe places for civilians in Gaza,” Annalena Baerbock said in a statement.

"Almost 80% of the Gaza Strip has been declared an evacuation zone by the Israeli army - children, the sick, the elderly, and pregnant women must also leave these areas. And even the few and absolutely overcrowded places declared by the Israeli army as safe zones are repeatedly hit,” she added.

While Baerbock mentioned that Israel had the right to defend itself against terrorism, she also made clear that “international humanitarian law sets limits to every war.”

“The army is obliged to protect the civilian population. Because people cannot simply disappear into thin air, they urgently need support and security,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, Baerbock urged also increased global efforts to secure a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza.

All those responsible in the region and beyond must focus all their energies on negotiating a humanitarian ceasefire,” she said.

“The Biden plan is on the table, the UN Security Council supports the plan. It is high time to accept it, which is what Israeli Defense Minister (Yoav) Gallant recently called for. So that the hostages are released, so that the deaths stop and there is finally a humanitarian ceasefire,” Baerbock added.

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

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.