Germany's Scholz arrives in Aqaba on two-day Mideast trip

Scholz is scheduled to meet with His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said in Berlin on Friday that the German Chancellor’s two-day trip to the Middle East will take him to Jordan and then to Israel, his second trip to the region since the outbreak of war in Gaza on October 7. 

Hebestreit said that the topics of discussion in Jordan and Israel would include the current developments in the Gaza Strip, the airlift for the suffering population and the general situation in the crisis area.

A meeting with representatives of the Palestinian Authority has not yet been planned, he said.

During a news conference ahead of his trip to the region on Saturday, Scholz urged Israel to allow humanitarian aid access to Gaza on a larger scale.

"It is necessary for aid to reach Gaza on a larger scale now. That will be a topic that I also have to talk about," the chancellor said.

He also voiced concern over further military operations in Gaza, warning that a full-scale Israeli offensive in Rafah would result in many “terrible” civilian causalities. “It must be avoided at all costs.”

 Gaza aid airdrops

Germany on Saturday joined Jordan and other countries in airdropping aid into Gaza

Germany’s air force said it dropped pallets with four tonnes of relief suuplies by air into the enclave on Saturday.

The German Federal Foreign Office said on the social media platform X, ”The flight was a start. More airdrops will follow in the next few days. The German-French team remains on site and coordinates closely with our Jordanian partners.”

It also urged Israeli government to open more border crossings to enable more aid deliveries by truck overland into Gaza.

Foreign Minister Baerbock has announced that Germany will increase its humanitarian assistance for the people in the Palestinian territories.

On February 29, German foreign ministry said that Germany has increased humanitarian assistance for Gaza by an additional 20 million euro. “This brings overall assistance for the Palestinian territories to around 238 million euro, with some 165 million euro in new funding since 7 October 2023.” 

“This was by far not enough to meet the needs of Gazans, Baerbock said at the time, adding that the number of lorries bringing life-saving food, medicine and other aid supplies to Gaza has fallen sharply in recent weeks.

“This is unacceptable. The Israeli government must immediately allow safe and unhindered access for humanitarian aid.”

Baerbock said that following the collapse of law and order in large parts of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army must ensure that humanitarian aid can be distributed successfully.