Panic scene on Tuesday night at Tel Aviv airport. The plane carrying German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was evacuated amid a threat of attack upon arrival at Ben Gurion airport. Scholz, visiting Israel, was forced to take refuge in an air raid shelter when the sirens announcing a missile attack sounded in Tel Aviv.
According to witnesses, Scholz remained in the shelter for a few minutes while the rest of the German delegation lay terrified on the ground after the air raid siren sounded.
The Russian network RT reported that the German delegation led by Scholz was getting ready to leave for Egypt when the sirens sounded at Ben Gurion airport. According to the German newspaper Die Welt, Scholz saw with his own eyes how the Israeli air defense system intercepted two missiles over the airport. A few minutes later, the passengers boarded again and the plane left for Cairo.
Already in the Egyptian capital, this Wednesday Scholz did not comment on that incident. His intervention together with the president of Abdel Fattah al Sisi focused on the worrying conflict between Israel and Palestine. He warned the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah and Iran not to get involved in the war because they would "make a grave mistake."
"We have spoken in depth about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. It is clear to us that the Palestinians are not Hamas and Hamas has no right to speak on behalf of the Palestinians," Scholz added. "Hamas takes innocent civilians hostage and uses them as human shields. Our purpose is to protect civilians and do something about human suffering," said the head of the German Government.
The foreign minister alluded to the attack this Tuesday against a hospital in Gaza and said that the event must be clarified, although he went on to say that "Hamas, with its horrible terrorist attack on October 7, has caused pain in Israel and, as a consequence, perhaps also on the people of Gaza."
"I say it here in Cairo with great clarity: The attack by Hamas terrorists against Israel cannot be justified by anyone or anything. We condemn it in the strongest terms," Scholz added. "Every State has the right and obligation to defend itself against such a terrorist attack to protect its population. The State of Israel also has this right," insisted Scholz, who on his tour of the Middle East visited Israel this Tuesday before traveling to Egypt.
"Together with Egypt we want to collaborate in alleviating the serious consequences of the war," said the head of the German Government. "As a neighbor, Egypt is directly affected by the situation. We work together so that there is humanitarian access to Gaza as soon as possible. The people there need water, food and medicine. I can assure you here," Scholz said, addressing al-Sisi, "that we will not abandon to the people. The federal government will continue its humanitarian aid to limit the suffering of the civilian population," he concluded.
For his part, Al Sisi unexpectedly proposed sending Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to the Negev Desert in southern Israel instead of to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, as he says the Jewish state intends. do with its military operations against the Islamist group Hamas.
"If the Al Naqab (Negev) desert exists in Israel, Palestinians can be moved there until Israel finishes its announced missions to liquidate the Resistance or armed groups, Hamas, Islamic Jihad... and then return them , If they want".
"But moving them towards Egypt...This military operation can last for years and is a very broad operation that may not completely end terrorism. Egypt is the one that has to endure these consequences and the Sinai becomes a starting base for the terrorist operations against Israel and we, in Egypt, will be responsible for this," he said.
