Conflicts - Söder visits destroyed kibbutz not far from the Gaza Strip
Around two months after the start of the Gaza war, Bavaria's Minister President Markus Söder (CSU) plans to visit a kibbutz in the restricted military area near the Gaza Strip on Thursday. The State Chancellery initially did not want to publish the exact name of the kibbutz, citing the tense security situation in the country.
A visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem is then on the agenda, before political talks with President Izchak Herzog are planned for later in the afternoon. In the kibbutz, Söder will also hand over a donation to support an aid project for young people traumatized by the Hamas terror attack in the border region.
At the end of November, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier had already visited a kibbutz that had been attacked and largely destroyed by Hamas. The attack on several settlement communities on October 7 triggered the Gaza war. More than 1200 people were killed in the unprecedented attacks in the border area. Israel then began massive air strikes and, since the end of October, a ground offensive in the area. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, around 18,000 people have been killed and more than 49,200 injured.
Söder said that he wanted to show his solidarity with Israel and the government's course in the Gaza war with his visit. "Of course we also sympathize with the people in the Gaza Strip, with the civilian victims," he said before his departure. "Nevertheless, we believe that Israel has a right to self-defense and that it is necessary to prioritize security now."
According to the United Nations (UN), the EU and the World Health Organization (WHO), the situation in the Gaza Strip is becoming increasingly catastrophic. Large parts of the buildings have been destroyed by the Israeli attacks and the majority of those killed are said to be civilians. Before the war began, more than two million people, including many children and young people, lived in the area sealed off by Israel, which is only slightly larger than Munich.
Söder had already planned to meet with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on Wednesday evening. He will be accompanied by Ambassador Steffen Seibert and a small delegation. Söder plans to be back in Bavaria on Friday.
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Source: www.stern.de
