Germany will ban Hamas from operating in the country, Chancellor Olaf Scholz told lawmakers Thursday.
The pro-Palestinian association “Samidoun” will also be banned in Germany after its members celebrated “the most brutal acts of terror in the open streets,” Scholz said.
Scholz blamed Iran for backing Hamas, although he had “no solid evidence that Iran has provided concrete and operational support for this cowardly attack by Hamas.”
“Without Iranian support” over the past several years, “Hamas would not have been capable of these unprecedented attacks on Israeli territory,” Scholz said.
“The jubilant statements by the top of the Iranian regime and some other government officials in the region are abhorrent. The leadership in Tehran is unashamedly showing its true colors – and confirming its role in Gaza,” he added.
Scholz warned Hezbollah not to “intervene in the fighting” as “this would not only result in a justified and harsh Israeli reaction,” but also draw Lebanon “to the brink of the abyss.”
Behind the scenes Germany was working “in close coordination with Israel” with all its “might to ensure that all hostages are released again,” Scholz said.
“Our immediate concern today is for the children, women and men who have been trafficked into the Gaza Strip. We are all deeply moved by their fate,” the German Chancellor said.
“We fear that Hamas will continue to use them as human shields in the coming weeks,” he added. “Nothing but nothing justifies the terror of Hamas.”
Scholz said he is counting on the possible mediating role of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Jordanian King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein and the Emir of Qatar, whom he will receive for talks in Berlin on Thursday.
