Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday stressed the need to “advance” humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza, but doubled down on Germany’s unconditional support for Israel as EU leaders wrangled over the wording of their EU summit communiqué.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Scholz stressed the importance of “advancing” humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza, freeing hostages held by Hamas and avoiding an escalation of the conflict.
“Israel is a democratic state that is guided by very humanitarian principles, and so we can be sure that the Israeli army will respect the rules of international law in everything it does,” Scholz said, stressing his belief that the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) would abide by international law: “I have no doubt about that.”
His comments came at Thursday’s EU summit in Brussels, where EU leaders were to hammer out the exact wording of their statement after days of discussions on how to call for a pause in the Israeli-Hamas war to allow desperately needed humanitarian aid into Gaza.
EU diplomats said Germany and other staunch supporters of Israel were seeking to soften any wording in the final summit communiqué that could be seen as contradicting Israel’s right to defend itself.
But Scholz’s remarks contrasted sharply with comments in recent days by the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, and European Council President Charles Michel, both of whom have suggested that a total blockade of Gaza and attacks on civilian infrastructure would violate international humanitarian law.
Asked about Scholz’s comments, some EU diplomats wondered whether the German chancellor’s doubling down on the issue could also be read as a subtle warning to Tel Aviv to abide by international humanitarian law.