German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has thanked Egypt for mediation
Germany welcomes the truce between Israel and Hamas and thanks Egypt for its mediation efforts. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas wrote this on Twitter on Friday.
“It’s good that a truce has been reached and there are no more victims [of rocket fire]. Thanks to Egypt for the mediation. Now we need to address the causes [of the differences], restore trust and seek a solution to the Middle East conflict”, – he wrote.
The ceasefire went into effect on Friday at 02:00 Palestinian and Israeli time.
Factions operating in Gaza and the Israeli army have been exchanging strikes since 10 May. The rocket attacks followed riots outside the al-Aqsa mosque in East Jerusalem, which began following an Israeli court decision to seize homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood from Arab families living there. During that time, radicals fired more than 4,000 rockets into the Jewish State, and the Israeli military responded by bombing hundreds of targets in the enclave. The latest figures from the Strip’s Ministry of Health put the death toll of Palestinians in Gaza at 232, with 1,900 injured. A total of 260 people have been killed in the conflict in the Palestinian territories, including the West Bank. On the Israeli side, at least 12 people have been killed.