Germany: Two-State Solution Key to Palestinian-Israeli Peace

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (L) meets with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi on June 9, 2019 in Amman. (AFP)
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (L) meets with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi on June 9, 2019 in Amman. (AFP)
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Germany: Two-State Solution Key to Palestinian-Israeli Peace

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (L) meets with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi on June 9, 2019 in Amman. (AFP)
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (L) meets with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi on June 9, 2019 in Amman. (AFP)

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Sunday reaffirmed his country's support for a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict ahead of a long-awaited US peace plan.

"We are still in agreement that reaching a two-state solution through negotiations is the only solution," he told a press conference in Amman with his Jordanian counterpart.

"We and Germany agree that the two-state solution is the only way to end the conflict," Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said.

Washington is gearing up to roll out economic aspects of its plan at a conference in Bahrain later this month, but it is not yet clear when its political details will be unveiled.

The Palestinians have already rejected the deal, citing a string of moves by US President Donald Trump they say show his administration is irredeemably biased.

Maas and Safadi met a day after US ambassador to Israel David Friedman was quoted by the New York Times as saying Israel had the "right" to annex at least parts of the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian leaders said the US envoy's comments showed "extremists" were involved in White House policy on the issue.

Israel occupied the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War and its construction of settlements there is viewed as a major stumbling block to peace as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.

Friedman has in the past been a supporter of Israeli settlements as has the family of Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and adviser leading efforts to put together the peace deal.

Kushner has hinted that it will not endorse international calls for the creation of a Palestinian state.

Several UN resolutions have enshrined the two-state solution, which envisages separate homelands for Jews and Palestinians, as the path to a peace settlement.

Both ministers also stressed the importance of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, just weeks after the US called for it to be dismantled after cutting its roughly $300 million annual donation.

Jordan is home to nearly 2.2 million Palestinian refugees, who make up almost half of the kingdom's population.



Trump Says He Hopes for Gaza Deal within a Week

US President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn upon arrival at the White House in Washinton, DC, on July 13, 2025 after attending the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final in New Jersey. (Photo by Allison ROBBERT / AFP)
US President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn upon arrival at the White House in Washinton, DC, on July 13, 2025 after attending the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final in New Jersey. (Photo by Allison ROBBERT / AFP)
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Trump Says He Hopes for Gaza Deal within a Week

US President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn upon arrival at the White House in Washinton, DC, on July 13, 2025 after attending the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final in New Jersey. (Photo by Allison ROBBERT / AFP)
US President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn upon arrival at the White House in Washinton, DC, on July 13, 2025 after attending the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final in New Jersey. (Photo by Allison ROBBERT / AFP)

US President Donald Trump said Sunday he hoped talks for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will be "straightened out" this week.

The US is backing a 60-day ceasefire with a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop withdrawals from parts of Gaza and talks to end the conflict. Trump told reporters, "We are talking and hopefully we're going to get that straightened out over the next week."

On Sunday, Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip killed at least 32 people, including six children at a water collection point, while the Palestinian death toll passed 58,000 after 21 months of war, local health officials said.
Israel and Hamas appeared no closer to a breakthrough in indirect talks meant to pause the war and free some Israeli hostages after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Washington visit last week. A sticking point has emerged over Israeli troops ' deployment during a ceasefire.
Israel says it will end the war only once Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile, something it refuses to do. Hamas says it is willing to free all the remaining 50 hostages, about 20 said to be alive, in exchange for the war's end and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces.