Wadephul: No participation in Gaza stabilisation force
A fragile ceasefire has been in place in the Gaza Strip for two and a half months. Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is calling for the launch of the second phase of the peace plan.
Berlin (dpa) – Germany is unlikely to take part in an international stabilisation force (ISF) to implement the Gaza peace plan, according to Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul. Such a force would not merely act as a mediation mission, Wadephul said, “but would have to provide security in very concrete terms if necessary.” “Many people cannot imagine German soldiers taking such action in this particular region,” he added.
However, Wadephul said that Germany was prepared to play a constructive role in developing the structures set out in the United Nations Security Council resolution, such as a peace council.
The forthcoming second phase of the 20-point peace plan put forward by US President Donald Trump envisages the disarmament of Hamas and the deployment of an international stabilisation force. The militant group has firmly rejected laying down its weapons, however.
What was now needed, Wadephul said, was a political framework and a security architecture to be guaranteed by the stabilisation forces together with Palestinian security forces. “It is vital to be able to begin all this very soon,” he urged,
warning: “The current division of Gaza into an area controlled by the Israeli army and another increasingly coming back under the control of Hamas must not allowed to become permanent.”
