US, Germany, UK, France leaders unite to call for urgent end to Gaza conflict

Biden, Scholz, Macron, Starmer agree on "immediate necessity for ending the war in Gaza, ensure aid reaches civilians"

BERLIN:

US President Joe Biden and the German, French and British leaders on Friday stressed the "immediate necessity" for ending the more than year-old war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

Biden, Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer in a joint statement said they agreed on "the immediate necessity to bring the hostages home to their families, for ending the war in Gaza, and ensure humanitarian aid reaches civilians".

The four leaders said they had "discussed events in the Middle East, in particular the implications of the death of Yahya Sinwar, who bears responsibility for the bloodshed of the October 7 terrorist attack" at the meeting in Berlin.

The leaders said they had also discussed the conflict in Lebanon, where Israel is fighting Hezbollah, and "reiterated their condemnation of Iran's escalatory attack on Israel".

On October 1 the Islamic republic fired about 200 missiles at Israel in revenge for the killing of two of its closest allies, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, as well as an Iranian general.

Israel's military campaign to crush Hamas and bring back the hostages has killed at least 42,500 Palestinians in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to data from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. The UN considers those figures to be reliable.