Gaza war tops discussion at Berlin security conference 

 

MUNICH – On the last day of the 60th Munich Security Conference on Sunday, the war in the Gaza Strip takes centre stage.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh is due to take part in a panel discussion in the morning on the future of Israeli-Palestinian relations together with former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi.

The war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas, which has been going on for months, has so far only marginally affected the conference.

Individual speakers, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, touched on the topic during their speeches and once again spoke out in favour of a two-state solution. This envisages an independent Palestinian state existing peacefully side by side with Israel.

In addition, the conference on Sunday plans once again to focus on European capabilities with regard to the war in Ukraine. Speakers include President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna and Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis.

At another event, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa and German politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, who chairs the defence committee in the Bundestag, plan to discuss the European Union’s geopolitical agenda.