BERLIN

There can be no peace in the Middle East without an independent Palestinian state, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday.

"We have said clearly that there must be a perspective — a two-state solution — and without hope of a possibility of self-governance, peace is not possible and there must be a peaceful perspective for a Palestinian state in West Bank and Gaza and Israel side by side," Scholz said during a town hall meeting in the northern city of Bremen.

"That is the position of Europe, the US, and Germany on this question and we stick to it in what we do and criticize, even if there is something to criticize," he added.

Last month, Germany said it did not support "the Israeli occupation policy" after a UN court affirmed Palestinians' right to self-determination and ruled that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories must be evacuated.

While Germany supports Israel because of its historical responsibility towards the Jewish state, that does "not mean it supports Israel's occupation policy," deputy Foreign Ministry spokesman Christian Wagner told journalists in Berlin at that time.

It is "primarily up to the Israeli government to draw conclusions from this (International Court of Justice) report," he added.

Wagner said his country has repeatedly made clear its "stances and positions on Israeli settlement policy."

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian group Hamas.

More than 40,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 90,000 injured, according to local health authorities.​​​​​​​

Over 10 months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.​​​​​​​