Germany and Morocco have warned of an escalation in the fighting between Israel and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, calling for the adoption of US President Joe Biden's plan for a ceasefire in Gaza to ease tensions.
"It is the only realistic way out of the war impasse," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Friday after a meeting with her Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita in Berlin.
According to an official translation, Bourita demanded: "A ceasefire must be reached. And the region must be rebuilt on the basis of this." The basis for a lasting peace must be a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, he stressed.
Biden presented a three-stage plan for a ceasefire in Gaza at the end of May, which envisages a temporary ceasefire during which some of the Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip would be released. In a second phase, the fighting would then cease permanently and the remaining hostages would be freed. In a final phase, the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip would begin, according to the draft.
According to the United States, only the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement has not yet agreed to the plan.
The two-state solution envisages an independent Palestinian state that exists peacefully side by side with Israel. Both Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian extremist group Hamas reject the idea.
With regard to a long-term perspective for Gaza, Baerbock said: "Long-term security can only be achieved with partners. Isolation is the enemy of security."
