German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock said on Thursday that Israel should relinquish control of the Gaza Strip after the end of the war against Hamas, dpa reported on Friday.

Asked who should rule Gaza after the war ends, Burbock told the Funke media group in statements released Friday that “Palestinians — freed from Hamas, without terror, self-determined and with a freely elected government of all .. Palestinians, including including on the West Bank of the Jordan River, must lead. It won’t happen overnight, she said, “but we must not lose sight of the political horizon, especially now, in wartime.”

Burbock said the German government is working with Arab partners to ensure the viability of the two-state solution. This includes building civilian infrastructure, reforming the Palestinian National Authority, economic reconstruction and the security framework, including security guarantees for Israel and the Palestinians.

“And that includes reminding the Israeli government that settlement policy not only prevents a Palestinian state, it literally prevents peace. Because only a two-state solution can bring lasting peace and security to the people of Israel,” she said.

Burbock’s statements were prompted by Israel’s controversial announcement to declare approximately 800 hectares of the West Bank as Israeli state land.

The head of German diplomacy also noted that protection during the transition period, until the two states can live side by side in peace, is only possible if there are international security guarantees. Israel must be assured that there will never again be a terrorist threat from Palestine, she said, and the Palestinians must be assured that they can live in safety and dignity in their own land.” This means, of course, that they have to involve neighboring Arab countries that are trusted there, but also close friends of Israel, which is why we Germans, along with the Americans and the British, are so concerned about the political horizon.” (Agerpress)