BERLIN — U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza represents the best chance yet to end the Israel-Hamas war, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Tuesday.
“After almost three years of bloodshed, this plan is the best chance, at least the best chance so far, for an end to the war,” Merz told reporters in Berlin.
“The fact that Israel supports this plan is a significant step forward,” he said. “Now Hamas must agree and clear the way for peace. This is truly the last step that is necessary, and I expressly call on Hamas to agree to the plan.”
Merz’s comments come after the U.S. president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the White House on Monday that they’ve reached a tentative agreement on the Trump administration’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza.
The proposal calls for Hamas to disarm, return all the hostages within 72 hours and relinquish power, according to an outline of the plan released by the White House. In return, Israeli forces would withdraw and release around 2,000 Gazans, prisoners and detainees, according to the proposal. Hamas has not yet agreed to the plan.
Germany is prepared to assist with implementing the peace plan and rebuilding Gaza in the event a peace agreement is reached, Merz said.
“Germany is ready to contribute to the implementation of the plan. This applies politically, it applies in a humanitarian sense, and it also applies, of course, to the reconstruction of the region,” the center-right politician said. “We see this as work towards a Middle East in which Israelis and Palestinians can one day live peacefully and securely in two states,” he added.
Earlier Tuesday, Merz met the families of Israeli hostages in the chancellery.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul separately announced he will travel to the Middle East over the weekend, where he is expected to engage in talks with Israeli officials.
Merz’s ideologically divergent coalition government — consisting of his conservative alliance and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) — has struggled to agree on a common position on Israel and the war in Gaza, specifically regarding EU proposals to sanction Israel.
While SPD politicians support the sanctions proposed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, members of Merz’s conservative alliance oppose such a step.
Merz earlier this month said he would announce his government’s unified position at a summit of European leaders in Copenhagen on Wednesday. But one day ahead of that meeting, there is no sign his coalition has agreed on a common position.
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