German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made an usually direct call for Israel to comply with international humanitarian law, in view of a planned ground offensive against the packed city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
"Obeying international law and the rules is something which is not just something we do because we subscribed some agreements globally. It is something which is coming out of our perspective of human kind and how we want to be and how we want to see ourselves," Scholz said at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
Scholz also reiterated Germany's demand that Israel move toward a two-state solution that would include recognizing an independent Palestinian state existing peacefully alongside Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has firmly rejected that possibility. Palestinian extremist movement Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by the European Union, the United States and Israel, also does not support a two-state solution.
Scholz said it has become clear that progress toward a two-state settlement is necessary for good relations between Israel and neighbouring countries.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled Israel attacks elsewhere in Gaza are currently sheltering in Rafah, a city along the Egyptian border at the southern end of the narrow coastal strip.
Israel's plans to expand its military operations against the overcrowded city have met with strong international criticism.
Israel's months-long offensive against the Gaza Strip was launched after Hamas, which rules the territory, launched unprecedented attacks on Israel on October 7.
