Within the ranks of the SPD there is sharp criticism of what is seen as a pre‑planned visit by Bundestag President Julia Klöckner (CDU) to the Israeli‑occupied part of the Gaza Strip.
The SPD Bundestag foreign‑policy spokesperson, Adis Ahmetovic, told the FAZ that a potential trip escorted by the Israeli army would send “an explosive signal”. He described Gaza as largely destroyed, with more than a million displaced people, an estimated 100,000 deaths-of which over 80 % are civilians-and hundreds of thousands suffering from hunger. Ahmetovic also took issue with the fact that, during the German official’s Israel tour, there would be no meeting with a Palestinian representative; he argued that such a meeting would have been “only appropriate”.
In contrast, Jürgen Hardt, the foreign‑policy spokesperson for the Union block in the Bundestag, told the FAZ that Klöckner is going to Gaza because she is moved by the suffering of the people there. Hardt stressed that Klöckner would not be able to travel to the part of the coast controlled by Hamas, and for security reasons her itinerary will be limited to the area under Israeli control. He also noted that Klöckner will deliberately meet with representatives of international NGOs – a development made more difficult by recent Israeli measures that threaten to hinder or even halt the operations of many such organisations in the strip.
