German FM to set off for Middle East to push for Gaza ceasefire

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was to leave for a Middle East trip Wednesday, Berlin said as efforts continue towards a deal between Israel and Hamas to end the Gaza war.

Pressure has mounted on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a deal to end the fighting, days after Israel’s military recovered six killed hostages from a Gaza tunnel.

Baerbock will set off Wednesday evening for Saudi Arabia where she will hold talks with Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, foreign ministry spokeswoman Kathrin Deschauer said.

The talks will focus on “the dramatic situation in the region” and “the ongoing attacks by the radical Houthis from Yemen on international shipping”, Deschauer said.

Baerbock will then head to Jordan and meet her counterpart Ayman Safadi to discuss “in particular the issue of coordinating humanitarian aid for the people in Gaza”.

She will then travel to Israel, where she will meet Foreign Minister Israel Katz and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

“These talks will focus on plans for an immediate and urgently needed humanitarian ceasefire, which should lead to the release of the hostages and urgently needed humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza,” Deschauer said.

Baerbock will then head to the occupied West Bank, the site of recent heavy clashes, where she will meet Palestinian Authority prime minister Mohammed Mustafa to discuss “how an imminent escalation of violence in the West Bank can be prevented”.

The trip will be Baerbock’s ninth to Israel and her 11th to the Middle East since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the war, Deschauer said.

The October 7 Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians and including hostages killed in captivity, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel’s campaign against Hamas since October 7 has killed at least 40,861 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry. The UN rights office says most of the dead are women and children.