Germany is to increase humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by €50 million ($55 million), Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced in Amman on Thursday, as she condemned Israeli attempts to further destabilize the Middle East.
Baerbock, speaking at a meeting with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Al-Safadi, said Germany has now pledged more than €360 million since last year to Gazans.
The focus of the latest aid push is combating hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition, along with the provision of health services during the Gaza conflict between Israel and Islamist rulers Hamas.
In addition, humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees in Jordan is to be increased by €12.7 million, raising German aid to Jordan to €63 million over the course of 2024.
According to the German Foreign Office, two convoys of 120 trucks per week travel from Jordan directly to the Gaza Strip via border crossings in the north of the Gaza Strip. Germany is to provide an additional €5 million to support this access.
Before travelling on to Israel as part of a two-day trip, Baerbock was to visit a warehouse operated by the Jordanian Hashemite Charity Organization (JHCO), a non-governmental organization playing a key role in distributing Jordanian aid to the Gaza Strip.
The JHCO provides medical equipment, food, tents, household goods and clothing. It is supported by the German government with €4 million for the purchase of trucks, fuel and vehicle maintenance.
‘Irresponsible’ actions by parts of Israeli government
Baerbock’s trip to Israel could be frosty after she called on parts of the Israeli government to stop fuelling religious tensions amid the war in Gaza.
“We firmly reject any attempts to shake up the existing status quo of the holy sites in Jerusalem,” the Green politician said.
Actions of individual Israeli ministers, such as the visit of the far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, “are irresponsible and are already fuelling an absolutely explosive situation. We expect the Israeli side to stop this provocation,” Baerbock added.
The Temple Mount, which includes the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, is the third holiest site in Islam and is under Muslim rule. However, it is also sacred to Israeli Jews because two Jewish temples used to stand there.
Baerbock said that the recent outbreak of violence in the Palestinian West Bank, on the other side of Israel from Gaza, was causing the German government great concern.
“Israel is the occupying power in the West Bank and is obliged under the Geneva Convention to uphold law and order rather than jeopardize it,” she said.
“This explicitly includes protecting the population from attacks by violent, radical settlers.”
Jordanian foreign minister slams Netanyahu
Israel has the right to combat terrorism, she said, “but you don’t fight terror by tearing up roads, destroying water pipes and electricity grids or even blocking access to hospitals.”
Jordanian Foreign Minister Al-Safadi called on the German government to impose sanctions on Israel.
“After more than 10 months of aggression (in Gaza), (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu will obviously listen neither to the UN Security Council nor to the advice of his friends in the West,” said Al-Safadi.
Netanyahu will continue if he is not threatened with consequences for his actions, he said.
The Gaza war, in which over 40,000 Palestinians have reportedly died, was sparked by Hamas launching a terrorist attack on Israeli soil on October 7 which killed over 1,200.
Baerbock arrived in Saudi Arabia for talks earlier on Thursday, before travelling on to Jordan.
