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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz flew into Israel Saturday for his first visit since taking office, and reaffirmed Berlin’s support after traditionally solid ties between the countries were shaken by the Gaza war.Merz landed at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport just before 8:00 pm (1800 GMT) and was met by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, who called him “a friend of Israel”. Germany, he added, was “an important partner”. Merz met Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem later Saturday.”I consider it a great honour and a truly great distinction to be here and to reaffirm that standing by this country is and will remain the unchanging core principle of the Federal Republic of Germany’s policy,” said Merz.Earlier Saturday, Merz held talks with Jordan’s King Abdullah II during a brief stopover there. Their discussions focused largely on the fragile peace process in Israel and the Palestinian territories, he told reporters.Merz urged more humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza and for Hamas fighters to lay down their weapons, adding that both Jordan and Germany remained committed to a negotiated two-state solution.”There can be no place for terrorism and antisemitism in this shared future,” Merz said.Jordan’s royal palace said in a statement that Abdullah had stressed “the need to commit to implementing all stages of the agreement to end the war and deliver humanitarian aid to all areas of the Strip”.The king warned of “the danger of continued Israeli escalations in the West Bank”, which Israel has occupied since 1967.Hamas said Saturday it was ready to hand over its weapons in the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian authority governing the territory, provided the Israeli army’s occupation ended.”We accept the deployment of UN forces as a separation force, tasked with monitoring the borders and ensuring compliance with the ceasefire in Gaza,” Hamas chief negotiator and its Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya added in a statement.But he rejected the deployment of any international force in the Strip whose mission would be to disarm it.- Ties shaken – In Jerusalem on Sunday, Merz is scheduled to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial before meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Given the dark legacy of Nazi Germany’s industrial-scale murder of Jews, German leaders have long seen unflinching support for Israel as a bedrock of the country’s foreign policy.But Israeli-German ties were shaken during the Gaza war set off by the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.Merz, who took power in May, has repeatedly criticised Israel’s relentless military campaign, which has killed more than 69,000 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the United Nations considers credible.In August, he also moved to restrict sales of weapons for use in Gaza.Since a fragile US-backed ceasefire and hostage deal ended full-scale fighting, Germany has lifted those export restrictions.Despite the ceasefire, more than 350 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to local health authorities, as well as three Israeli soldiers. “The actions of the Israeli army in Gaza have posed some dilemmas for us (and) we have responded to them,” Merz said Saturday.But, he added: “Israel has the right to defend itself.”- Defence deals -Although Merz’s public criticism of Israel was unusual for a German leader, it was measured by international standards.Merz recently offered Israel full-throated support as European broadcasters considered whether to exclude the country from the annual Eurovision Song Contest, calling such a possibility “scandalous”.Thursday’s decision to include Israel in the upcoming Eurovision event was warmly welcomed in Berlin.Nevertheless, German officials have said there are currently no plans to invite Netanyahu to Berlin.The Israeli leader faces an arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Gaza from the International Criminal Court (ICC).Earlier this year however, Merz vowed to invite the Israeli leader and told him he would not be arrested.Nor have any tensions disrupted key military ties. Germany last week put into operation the first phase of the Israeli-made Arrow missile defence shield.The $4.5-billion deal was reportedly the largest arms export agreement in Israeli history. Before leaving Berlin on Saturday, Merz spoke with Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmud Abbas. A spokesman said Merz underscored German support for a two-state solution but urged Abbas to push through “urgently necessary reforms” of the PA in order to play a “constructive role” in the postwar order.burs-jj/acb

Christmas cheer returned to the traditional birthplace of Jesus Christ on Saturday as Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank lit up a tree for the first time since the war in Gaza began over two years ago.Covered in red and gold baubles, the Christmas tree standing metres away from the Church of the Nativity on Manger Square has become a symbol of hope.At the end of a two-hour ceremony, the tree was illuminated to cheers, its yellow lights twinkling and a bright red star on top shining against the clouded night sky irradiated by a luminescent, almost full moon.It is the first time the city has held the usual celebrations since the outbreak of the war in Gaza following Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023.”It’s like a symbol for resilience,” said 27-year-old Abeer Shtaya, who works at Al-Zaytoonah University of Science and Technology in Salfit in the West Bank.She had travelled 100 kilometres (60 miles) with a group of the university’s students because “we want to celebrate and be with our brothers and sisters in Bethlehem to enjoy this day”.”It’s a message for the world that it’s calm,” Mike Shahen, 43, said at his ceramic store on the square, after a handful of visitors came in for purchases.Thousands of people attended, including Christians and Muslims, and many who travelled from Palestinian territories and Israel — some from even further afield — to enjoy the festive spirit return.Nuns could be seen watching from one roof, while many families including small children filled balconies and roofs to catch a glimpse of the tree lit up.Sounds of laughter filled the air as many could not help but smile despite moments of rain.”This event didn’t happen for the last two years because of the war and it’s quite emotional after two years of nothing but war and death,” said 50-year-old Liyu Lu, who had travelled from northern Israel, close to the border with Lebanon.Originally from China but now living in Israel for decades, she was with a group including Gary Lau, a travelling businessman and Christian staying in Jerusalem for the past couple of months.”Being here, with the festivities, is something very nice and special,” Lau, 51, said, adding he was “taking in the atmosphere”.For the past two years, Bethlehem has celebrated Christmas in a more sombre manner, with no major public festivities.- Tentative return -Christian pilgrims, especially from Asia, South America and eastern Europe have, however, slowly returned in the past few months.Fabien Safar, guide and director of Terra Dei which organises pilgrimages to the Holy Land, said a few small groups would come for Christmas this year and he already saw some bookings for 2026.Safar expected a real recovery in 2027 but “this obviously depends on how the situation evolves” in Gaza and Lebanon.Despite a November 2024 ceasefire that was supposed to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and militant group Hezbollah, Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon.Pilgrims “remain afraid because there’s no official end to the war” in Gaza, Safar said, adding they were also worried about the situation in Lebanon.- ‘Worse than Covid’ -But it has all taken a toll on Bethlehem, which had only just cheered the return of tourists in 2022 after the Covid pandemic, before the war in Gaza broke out.Bethlehem’s economy relies almost completely on tourism.”Covid was bad but nothing like the last two years,” said Shahen from the ceramic store.Many visitors from Israel and the Palestinian territories spent hours on the road to reach Bethlehem including musician Lu.She woke up at 6 am to get a bus at 7 am with a large group. They arrived at 12:30 pm, she said, without any trouble.War isn’t the only reason for Bethlehem’s woes. Since the 2023 Hamas attack, it is more difficult to travel around the West Bank with long queues on the roads with Israeli military checkpoints.Violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has also surged since the Gaza war. It has not stopped despite the fragile truce between Israel and Hamas that began this October.

Qatar and Egypt, guarantors of the Gaza ceasefire, called on Saturday for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the deployment of an international stabilisation force as the necessary next steps in fully implementing the fragile agreement.The measures were spelt out in the US- and UN-backed peace plan that has largely halted fighting, though the warring parties have yet to agree on how to move forward from the deal’s first phase. Its initial steps saw Israeli troops pull back behind a so-called “yellow line” within Gaza’s borders, while Palestinian militant group Hamas released the living hostages it still held and handed over the remains of all but one of the deceased.”Now we are at the critical moment… A ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal of the Israeli forces (and) there is stability back in Gaza,” Qatari premier Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told the Doha Forum, an annual diplomatic conference.Qatar, alongside Egypt and the United States, helped secure the long-elusive truce, which remains delicate as Israel and Hamas accuse each other of breaching its terms. Key sticking points have also emerged over the implementation of the second phase, which has yet to begin, including the question of Hamas’s disarmament.Hamas is supposed to disarm under the 20-point plan first outlined by US President Donald Trump, with members who decommission their weapons allowed to leave Gaza. The group has repeatedly rejected the proposition.Hamas said on Saturday that it was ready to hand over its weapons in the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian authority on the condition that the Israeli army’s occupation ends.”Our weapons are linked to the existence of the occupation and the aggression,” Hamas chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya said in a statement.”If the occupation ends, these weapons will be placed under the authority of the state,” he added.Asked by AFP, Hayya’s office said he was referring to a sovereign and independent Palestinian state. Under the plan endorsed by the UN in November, Israel is to withdraw from its positions, Gaza is to be administered by a transitional governing body known as the “Board of Peace”, and an international stabilisation force is to be deployed.”We need to deploy this force as soon as possible on the ground because one party, which is Israel, is every day violating the ceasefire,” Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said at the Doha Forum. The Egyptian foreign ministry said Abdelatty and Sheikh Mohammed met on Saturday, with both stressing “the importance of continuing efforts to implement” the peace agreement.Arab and Muslim nations, however, have been hesitant to participate in the new force, which could end up fighting Palestinian militants.Trump would theoretically chair the “Board of Peace”, while the identities of the other members have yet to be announced.- ‘Main objective’ -Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told the forum that talks on the stabilisation force were ongoing, with critical questions remaining as to its command structure and which countries would contribute. Fidan said its first goal “should be to separate Palestinians from the Israelis”. Abdelatty seconded the idea, calling for the force to be deployed along “the yellow line in order to verify and to monitor” the truce.There have been multiple deadly incidents of Israeli forces firing on Palestinians in the vicinity of the yellow line since the ceasefire went into effect.Turkey, also a guarantor of the truce, has indicated it wants to take part in the stabilisation force, but its efforts are viewed unfavourably in Israel.Fidan said Hamas’s disarmament should not be the main priority in Gaza.”We need to put things in (their) proper order, we have to be realistic,” he said at the forum.He also urged the US to intervene with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ensure the plan succeeds. “If they don’t intervene, I’m afraid there is a risk the plan can fail,” Fidan said. “The amount of daily violations of the ceasefire by the Israelis is indescribable at the moment and all indicators are showing that there is a huge risk of stopping the process.”- Rafah crossing -Sheikh Mohammed said Qatar and the other truce guarantors were “getting together in order to force the way forward for the next phase” of the deal. “And this next phase is just also temporary from our perspective,” he said, calling for a “lasting solution that provides justice for both people”.The ceasefire plan calls for Gaza’s Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt to be reopened to allow in aid.Israel this week said it would open the checkpoint, but “exclusively for the exit of residents from the Gaza Strip to Egypt”.Egypt swiftly denied that it had agreed to such a move, insisting the crossing be opened both ways.Israel’s announcement drew expressions of concern from several Muslim-majority nations, who said they opposed “any attempts to expel the Palestinian people from their land”.Abdelatty insisted on Saturday that Rafah “is not going to be a gateway for displacement”, but only an entry point for aid.

Hundreds of people demonstrated on Saturday in the Tunisian capital against the government under the slogan “opposition is not a crime”, calling for the release of jailed activists.The rally in Tunis was called after the recent arrests of three opposition figures convicted of “conspiracy” against the state.Tunisia emerged from the Arab Spring era of revolts as a democracy but, after Saied staged a sweeping power grab in 2021, rights groups have criticised a major rollback on freedoms.Dozens of Saied’s critics have been prosecuted or jailed, including on terrorism-related charges and under a law the president enacted in 2022 to prohibit “spreading false news”.Protesters held up portraits of several of them.”Since the coup, things have changed completely. We’ve seen our freedoms taken away gradually, even though we did have a revolution,” said Hager Chebbi, daughter of opposition figure Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, among those recently arrested. “It’s a descent into hell,” she told AFP. Amnesty International said the trial and Chebbi’s arrest were part of the authorities’ “blind and repressive escalation” in cracking down on dissenting voices.”Fifteen years after the revolution, it is as if dictatorship has officially marked its return,” Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa spokesman Ahmed Benchemsi told AFP. 

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Israel on Saturday for his first visit since taking office, aiming to reaffirm traditionally solid ties that were shaken during the Gaza war.After a brief stop in Jordan, Merz landed at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport just before 8 pm local time (1800 GMT) and was met by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, who called him “a friend of Israel” and said Germany was “an important partner”. Merz is due to meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem later Saturday. The German chancellor earlier held talks with Jordan’s King Abdullah II and told reporters they had focused largely on the fragile peace process in Israel and the Palestinian territories.Merz urged more humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza and Hamas fighters to lay down their weapons. He said Jordan and Germany both remain committed to a negotiated two-state solution.”There can be no place for terrorism and antisemitism in this shared future,” Merz said.Jordan’s royal palace said in a statement that Abdullah stressed “the need to commit to implementing all stages of the agreement to end the war and deliver humanitarian aid to all areas of the Strip”.The king also warned of “the danger of continued Israeli escalations in the West Bank”, which Israel has occupied since 1967.In Jerusalem on Sunday, Merz is scheduled to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial before meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.- Ties shaken – Given the dark legacy of Nazi Germany’s industrial-scale murder of Jews, German leaders have long seen unflinching support for Israel as a bedrock of the country’s foreign policy.In a speech in September celebrating the reopening of Munich’s synagogue, which was severely damaged by the Nazis, Merz visibly struggled to hold back tears, his voice breaking.But Israeli-German ties were shaken during the Gaza war set off by the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.Merz, who took power in May, has repeatedly criticised Israel’s relentless military campaign, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.In August, he also moved to restrict sales of weapons for use in Gaza.Since a fragile US-backed ceasefire and hostage deal ended full-scale fighting, Germany has lifted those export restrictions.Despite the ceasefire, more than 350 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to local health authorities, as well as three Israeli soldiers. The UN also warns that Israel is still not allowing enough aid into Gaza.Before leaving Berlin on Saturday, Merz spoke with Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmud Abbas. A spokesman said Merz underscored German support for a two-state solution but urged Abbas to push through “urgently necessary reforms” of the PA in order to play a “constructive role” in the postwar order.- ‘Signal of support’ -After the recent strains, Israel expects a “signal of continued support” from Merz, said Michael Rimmel, head of the Jerusalem office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, affiliated with Merz’s centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU).Bilateral relations have been strained over the past two years but remain “better than many people think”, Rimmel told AFP.But he said Berlin has little discernible influence on Netanyahu’s government, which has pushed on with West Bank settlements despite protests from Berlin and elsewhere, and dismissed calls for a two-state solution.”Certainly, President Trump and the Americans have greater influence,” said Rimmel, noting that the US president was able to pressure Netanyahu into the Gaza ceasefire.Gil Shohat, head of the Tel Aviv office of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, which is affiliated with Germany’s far-left Die Linke party, sharply criticised Merz for the trip.Shohat argued that Merz is effectively offering political support to Netanyahu and Israel’s hard-right government.”Netanyahu is a wanted war criminal and is under suspicion of corruption,” said Shohat. “Going there now and legitimising him is a fatal sign of normalisation in a situation that must not be normalised.”- Defence deals -Although Merz’s public criticism of Israel was unusual for a German leader, it was measured by international standards.Merz recently offered Israel full-throated support as European broadcasters weighed whether to exclude the country from the annual Eurovision Song Contest, calling such a possibility “scandalous”.The decision to include Israel in the upcoming Eurovision event was warmly welcomed in Berlin.Despite the close ties, German officials have said there are currently no plans to invite Netanyahu — who faces an international arrest warrant for war crimes in Gaza from the International Criminal Court (ICC) — to Berlin.Merz this year vowed to invite the Israeli leader and told him he would not be arrested.Any tensions have also not disrupted key military ties. Germany last week put into operation the first phase of the Israeli-made Arrow missile defence shield.The $4.5 billion deal was reportedly the largest arms export agreement in Israeli history, and Berlin has also turned to Israeli firms for help in drone defence.

A United Nations Security Council delegation on Saturday urged all parties to uphold a year-old ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, expressing support for a state weapons monopoly at the end of a Lebanon visit.A November 2024 ceasefire was supposed to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah militants, but Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon.Israel has mainly said it is targeting the Iran-backed group, and has maintained troops in five south Lebanon areas it deems strategic.”We came to Beirut at a pivotal time for the implementation of… the cessation of hostilities agreement of November of last year,” Slovenian UN ambassador Samuel Zbogar, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the UN body, told reporters.”All parties must uphold the November 2024 cessation of hostilities agreement, and we recognise progress achieved by Lebanon this year,” he said.”We reaffirm the council’s support for Lebanon’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence.””We also reaffirm commitment to the full implementation of Resolution 1701 in support of Lebanon’s — as well as regional — security and stability,” he added, referring to a 2006 Security Council decision that forms the basis of the current truce.Under heavy US pressure and fears of expanded Israeli strikes, Lebanon’s government has committed to disarming Hezbollah, and the army is set to dismantle the group’s military infrastructure near the border by year end before tackling the rest of the country.”We support the Lebanese government’s decision to ensure the state’s monopoly of arms,” Zbogar said, also urging “intensified international support” for Lebanon’s army.The delegation met senior officials including President Joseph Aoun, and on Saturday went to conflict-hit south Lebanon near the Israeli border, visiting peacekeepers from the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).In August, the Security Council voted to extend UNIFIL’s mandate until the end of 2026 and then withdraw the force from Lebanon by the end of the following year.The visit was a chance to “examine options for the implementation of Resolution 1701 following UNIFIL’s departure from Lebanon”, Zbogar said, adding that “this is a topic that will deserve a thorough conversation during 2026”.Zbogar also emphasised that the “safety of peacekeepers must be respected and that they must never be targeted”, after Lebanon’s army said it arrested six people following an attack by gunmen on UNIFIL personnel this week.Aoun told the delegation on Friday that Lebanon does not want war with Israel, days after civilian representatives from both sides held their first talks in decades.