German says Israel’s right to self-defense does not include ‘expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza'

BERLIN:Israel’s right to self-defense does not include the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, Germany’s foreign minister said Tuesday on the eve of a visit to Tel Aviv.

“I would like to emphasize again that the right to self-defense applies, and that every country, like Israel, has the right to defend itself against terrorism, but it does not include expulsion,” Annalena Baerbock told a joint press conference with Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki.

She reiterated the need for Israel’s army to create “safe corridors" in Gaza and for the southern Gaza city of Rafah – home to some 1.4 million people, and the target of an expected Israeli army offensive – calling establishing such protective zones in the enclave “one of the most important tasks.”

Various Israeli officials have spoken of forcing Palestinians out of Gaza, and some observers have theorized that an attack on Rafah, near the Egyptian border, is meant to force civilians sheltering in Rafah to flee into Egypt, as there are no more choices in Gaza.

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