German Development Minister Reem Alabali Radovan urged breaking the “cycle of extremism” in the Middle East as she met Israeli hostage relatives.
Dani Miran, whose son Omri was kidnapped during the October 7, 2023, terrorist assaults by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, lauded the German government's efforts to support captives, especially those who are not German nationals, during the meeting in Tel Aviv on Wednesday.
"I don't want to overthrow the government, I don't want to change the world, just bring my son back,"
he said.
20 of the 50 captives who are currently being kept in the Gaza Strip are reportedly still alive.
Large-scale protests calling for the return of captives and an end to the Gaza conflict took place in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
The Iranian-backed Houthi militia launched rockets into Israel, disrupting the German minister's plans to some extent. She was forced to take refuge at her hotel in East Jerusalem as air raid sirens sounded.
Later, she met with Major General Ghassan Alian, the head of the Israeli COGAT occupation authority.
Foreign donor-supported development initiatives in the West Bank and Gaza Strip need to be coordinated with the relevant authorities.
In response to allegations of starvation in some areas of Gaza, the development minister praised the increased flow of humanitarian aid to the coastal region but emphasized that supplies must reach the most vulnerable.
The Israeli military is limiting aid organizations' operations in Gaza, they have warned.
Wednesday was also set aside for a meeting with Jerusalem's Latin patriarch, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa. Following an Israeli military assault on a Catholic church in the Gaza Strip in July, he traveled there.
In Jordan, where she met Palestinian refugees whose families had fled the Gaza Strip during the 1967 war, Alabali Radovan resumed her journey in the afternoon.
In the ongoing conflict, many of them have lost family members in their former country.
If Israel would not stop it, Olaf Becker of the UNRWA, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East, said his organization could deliver 896 trucks of food into the Gaza Strip tomorrow.
According to him, the group has enough bandages, insulin, anesthetics, and disinfectants to sustain the residents of the coastal region for six months.
On Thursday, Alabali Radovan is scheduled to continue his journey to Saudi Arabia for meetings.
She visited the West Bank on the first day of her tour, where she vehemently denounced settlement aggression and restated the German government's call for an end to hostilities in the Gaza Strip and the release of Israeli hostages.
What immediate steps did she propose to help secure the hostages' release?
Insisting on the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages as an urgent priority. Supporting continuing diplomatic efforts led by key nations such as Germany, Qatar, Egypt, and the United States to establish a sustainable ceasefire and ensure hostage release.
Calling for an immediate humanitarian pause and ceasefire to allow for conditions where safe and rapid release of hostages can occur. We will be advocating for humanitarian access without restrictions including to support necessary medical attention for hostages and enable communication with their families.
Supporting neutral actors, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), to visit hostages, observing their treatment and supporting humanitarian efforts. Emphasizing that to uphold international law, those involved in holding hostages must treat them fairly, humanely, and with dignity.