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UK, France, Germany Urge Gaza Ceasefire, Ask Israel to Restore Humanitarian Access

Displaced Palestinians sit next to tents at a camp set up in a garbage dump in the Yarmouk area of ​​Gaza City, the Gaza Strip, 21 March 2025, after the Israeli army issued evacuation orders for the northern areas of the city. (EPA)
Displaced Palestinians sit next to tents at a camp set up in a garbage dump in the Yarmouk area of ​​Gaza City, the Gaza Strip, 21 March 2025, after the Israeli army issued evacuation orders for the northern areas of the city. (EPA)
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UK, France, Germany Urge Gaza Ceasefire, Ask Israel to Restore Humanitarian Access

Displaced Palestinians sit next to tents at a camp set up in a garbage dump in the Yarmouk area of ​​Gaza City, the Gaza Strip, 21 March 2025, after the Israeli army issued evacuation orders for the northern areas of the city. (EPA)
Displaced Palestinians sit next to tents at a camp set up in a garbage dump in the Yarmouk area of ​​Gaza City, the Gaza Strip, 21 March 2025, after the Israeli army issued evacuation orders for the northern areas of the city. (EPA)

The governments of Germany, France and Britain called for an immediate return to a ceasefire in Gaza in a joint statement on Friday that also called on Israel to restore humanitarian access.

"We call on Israel to restore humanitarian access, including water and electricity, and ensure access to medical care and temporary medical evacuations in accordance with international humanitarian law," the foreign ministers of the three countries, known as the E3, said in a statement.

The ministers said they were "appalled by the civilian casualties," and also called on Palestinian Hamas fighters to release Israeli hostages.

They said the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians could not be resolved through military means, and that a long-lasting ceasefire was the only credible pathway to peace.

The ministers added that they were "deeply shocked" by the incident that affected the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) building in Gaza, and called for an investigation into the incident.

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German, Austrian Ministers Break Off Planned Syria Trip Because of Possible Threat

27 March 2025, Jordan, Amman: Nancy Faeser (L), Germany's acting Minister of the Interior and Home Affairs, and Gerhard Karner, Austrian Minister of the Interior, inform the members of their delegations a hotel in Amman that their trip to Syria has been canceled. Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
27 March 2025, Jordan, Amman: Nancy Faeser (L), Germany's acting Minister of the Interior and Home Affairs, and Gerhard Karner, Austrian Minister of the Interior, inform the members of their delegations a hotel in Amman that their trip to Syria has been canceled. Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
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German, Austrian Ministers Break Off Planned Syria Trip Because of Possible Threat

27 March 2025, Jordan, Amman: Nancy Faeser (L), Germany's acting Minister of the Interior and Home Affairs, and Gerhard Karner, Austrian Minister of the Interior, inform the members of their delegations a hotel in Amman that their trip to Syria has been canceled. Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
27 March 2025, Jordan, Amman: Nancy Faeser (L), Germany's acting Minister of the Interior and Home Affairs, and Gerhard Karner, Austrian Minister of the Interior, inform the members of their delegations a hotel in Amman that their trip to Syria has been canceled. Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa

The German and Austrian interior ministers broke off a planned trip to Syria on Thursday because of a possible threat to their delegation, German authorities said.
Germany's Nancy Faeser had planned to visit Damascus with Austrian counterpart Gerhard Karner, and a German military plane was supposed to fly Faeser's delegation into Syria from Jordan on Thursday morning.
But her ministry said that the trip was broken off before the flight could depart from Amman “because of concrete warnings by German security authorities of a terrorist threat,” German news agency dpa reported. It added that a threat to the delegation couldn't be ruled out, and that it wouldn't have been responsible to travel in view of that possible threat.
The trip hadn't been announced ahead of time. The two ministers had planned to speak with ministers in the interim government and with representatives of UN aid organizations, The Associated Press said.
Germany in particular has been a major destination for Syrian refugees over the past decade.
Last week, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Damascus and reopened the German Embassy, 13 years after it was shut in the early days of Syria’s civil war.
Baerbock, who met interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa and others, said Europe needs “eyes and ears” on the ground as it follows the Syrian political transition. It was her second visit since the fall of former President Bashar Assad in December.