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New German foreign minister travels to Israel for 'critical discussions'
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 10, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
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Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 10, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul visits Israel for critical discussions on Hamas attacks and hostages, meeting key leaders.
BERLIN (Reuters) - The new German foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, departed for Israel on Saturday for a Middle East trip in which "critical discussions" are expected, he said when leaving Berlin.
"In both of our democracies, critical discussions about the policies of one's own government and friendly nations are part of this," Wadephul said on Saturday.
Wadephul condemned the Hamas' attacks "in the strongest terms" and called for the liberation of all hostages.
Hamas' attacks on October 7, 2023 killed 1,200 people and 251 were taken hostage back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's campaign has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to Hamas-run health authorities.
"I will ask about the strategic objective of the fighting, which has intensified again since March," Wadephul said.
According to a Foreign Office spokesperson, Wadephul will meet Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Wadephul will also visit the Yad Vashem memorial and talk to the relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
In Ramallah, the minister will meet with the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, Mohammed Mustafa.
(Reporting by Alex Ratz, writing by Maria Martinez, Editing by Louise Heavens)
The main topic is the German Foreign Minister's visit to Israel for critical discussions on the Middle East situation.
Johann Wadephul is the new German Foreign Minister visiting Israel for discussions on the Middle East conflict.
Key issues include Hamas attacks, hostage situations, and strategic objectives of the conflict.
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