Joint List leader MK Ayman Odeh (Hadash) and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier met in Tel-Aviv on Monday, June 1, Odeh urging the visitor that Germany use its influence to put an end to the blockade on the Gaza Strip. According to Al-Ittihad, the daily newspaper of the Communist Party of Israel, Odeh told the German minister that Europe must “do more” against the Israeli occupation and for peace between Israel and Palestine. Steinmeier, who arrived in the region on Saturday and held talks with top Israeli and Palestinian officials, called during his visit in Gaza on Monday for efforts to rebuild the shattered enclave ravaged by the 50-day military confrontation last summer, the third outbreak of massive violence in six years. However, the foreign minister remarked that this would only be possible if there was a halt to Palestinian rocket fire on southern Israel.

Joint List leader, MK Ayman Odeh (Hadash), right, during his meeting with the German Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmetz, in Tel-Aviv, on Monday (Photo: Al Ittihad)

“I emerged from my discussions yesterday in Jerusalem and Ramallah with the hope that all parties are mindful that we are sitting on a powder keg here and that we must ensure that the fuse does not get lit,” Steinmeier said. “We shall only be able to decisively reduce the risks of a fresh escalation if we allow economic development in the Gaza Strip in addition to humanitarian aid and reconstruction,” he said on a visit to Gaza City’s fishing port.

During his visit, Steinmeier toured a German-funded girls’ school in the Shati refugee camp located just by the coastline in Gaza City. However, the foreign minister did not meet any officials from Hamas, the de facto power in Gaza, which is deemed by the European Union as a “terrorist organization.”

Last year’s deadly Israeli attack against the Gaza Strip claimed the lives of more than 2,200 Palestinians, most of them civilians. A World Bank report published in May said Gaza’s unemployment rate of 44% was “probably the highest in the world” which, coupled with its soaring level of poverty, was “very troubling.”