German Chancellor Olaf Scholz believes a longer-term ceasefire in Israel's war in the Gaza Strip is more likely than it has been for a long time but that greater deliveries of humanitarian aid are still needed.
The Israeli government believes about 100 hostages kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists during unprecedented attacks on Israel on October 7 which killed over 1,200 are still being held captive in Gaza.
The Israeli military has been pounding the Gaza Strip with airstrikes and an ongoing ground offensive since the attacks, with tens of thousands of Gazans reported dead by the Hamas authorities.
The fate of hostages is a sticking point in ceasefire negotiations and Scholz said their release must form part of a deal.
"What must now be achieved as quickly as possible is a longer-term ceasefire in which the hostages are released and those who have died are handed over so that their relatives can mourn with dignity," Scholz said in a government statement to parliament on Wednesday.
"I don't want to raise false hope here," said Scholz of a possible ceasefire. "But I do have the impression that it is more realistic at the moment than it has been for a long time, which is a long way from being successful."
To achieve a permanent peace, Scholz emphasized that Germany, alongside the European Union and the United States, continues to see a two-state agreement with a Palestinian state as a solution to the overall conflict.
"It must now become clear how there can be a future for the peaceful coexistence of Israel and a Palestinian state," Scholz said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected that possibility, and denounced efforts by Israeli allies elsewhere in the world to "impose" a Palestinian state on Israel.
Scholz also demanded that more humanitarian aid be allowed to reach Gaza. Israel has largely blockaded the narrow coastal strip and allowed limited supplies to cross the border.
Scholz noted that German aircraft are part of international efforts to airdrop aid into Gaza, but acknowledged that those efforts are bound to fall well short of what is needed.
A further five pallets were dropped over the Gaza Strip on Wednesday but more border crossings must be opened, and aid must be allowed to reach Gaza by sea as well, Scholz said.
The German Foreign Office also called on Israel to ensure the safety of humanitarian aid workers in the Gaza Strip as part of a wider aid push.
"We are constantly calling on Israel to do more to ensure that the civilian population can be supplied safely," a ministry spokesman added.
The current aim was to protect the civilian population from the consequences of the armed conflict and to "enable people to survive."
He added: "Our clear expectation is also that international humanitarian law will be observed in the conflict."
On Monday, the United Nations warned of an imminent famine.
Israel has worked its way through the north and central parts of the Gaza Strip, hunting down Hamas militants. Netanyahu had said his army will also now go into Rafah near the border with Egypt, where Israel believes terrorists are hiding.
But the German Foreign Office spokesman said there should be no "large-scale offensive" on Rafah at present.
There are currently well over a million people there, most of whom have fled to safety there from other parts of the strip at Israel's request.
An offensive there, in which the protection of the civilian population could be sufficiently taken into account, is inconceivable in the current situation, the spokeman added.
The German Bundestag will debate the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories on Thursday.
