German Foreign Minister to Tour Middle East From Sunday

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks during a joint press statement with the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at the end of a joint press statement at the foreign ministry in Berlin, Germany, 15 November 2022. (EPA)
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks during a joint press statement with the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at the end of a joint press statement at the foreign ministry in Berlin, Germany, 15 November 2022. (EPA)
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German Foreign Minister to Tour Middle East From Sunday

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks during a joint press statement with the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at the end of a joint press statement at the foreign ministry in Berlin, Germany, 15 November 2022. (EPA)
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks during a joint press statement with the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at the end of a joint press statement at the foreign ministry in Berlin, Germany, 15 November 2022. (EPA)

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will travel to Israel Sunday for her fourth visit since the outbreak of the Gaza war, a ministry spokesman said.

Baerbock will hold talks with Israel's new Foreign Minister Israel Katz, as well as President Isaac Herzog, foreign ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer told a regular press conference on Friday.

She will also meet with Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas and foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki.

Baerbock will subsequently travel to Egypt to meet with her counterpart Sameh Shoukry and also planned to visit Lebanon, according to AFP.

The talks would focus on the "dramatic humanitarian situation in Gaza, the situation in the West Bank and the extremely volatile situation on the Israel-Lebanon border", as well as efforts to secure the release of more Hamas hostages, Fischer said.

Baerbock said at a Berlin press conference on Friday that the Israelis and Palestinians would "only be able to live side by side in peace if the security of the one means the security of the other".

"Our position on the so-called day after is very clear," she said, speaking alongside her counterpart from Luxembourg.

"There must be no occupation of the Gaza Strip, no expulsions and no reduction in the size of the territory. And at the same time there must be no more danger to Israel from the Gaza Strip," Baerbock said.

Fears have grown that the conflict between Israel and Hamas could spread, after one of the militant group's leaders was assassinated in the Beirut suburbs.

In addition to the killing, widely assumed to have been carried out by Israel, the Israeli army has for months traded tit-for-tat fire across the border with Hezbollah militants.

The risk of escalation was "very real", Fischer said. Germany on Wednesday urged its citizens to leave Lebanon as quickly as possible.

Relentless Israeli bombardment and its ground invasion in Gaza after Hamas's October 7 attack have killed at least 22,438 people, most of them women and children.



Small Plane Crashes into Brazil Tourist City, Killing at Least 10

A general view shows the site of a plane crash in the center of Gramado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil December 22, 2024. REUTERS/Edson Vara
A general view shows the site of a plane crash in the center of Gramado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil December 22, 2024. REUTERS/Edson Vara
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Small Plane Crashes into Brazil Tourist City, Killing at Least 10

A general view shows the site of a plane crash in the center of Gramado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil December 22, 2024. REUTERS/Edson Vara
A general view shows the site of a plane crash in the center of Gramado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil December 22, 2024. REUTERS/Edson Vara

A small plane carrying 10 people crashed into shops in the center of the tourist city of Gramado in southern Brazil on Sunday, killing everyone on board, state government officials said.
The aircraft's owner and pilot, Luiz Claudio Galeazzi, died along with the other nine passengers, all of whom were members of his family, according to Rio Grande do Sul Governor Eduardo Leite.
In addition, 17 people on the ground were injured, Leite said at a press conference, with 12 still receiving hospital care, including two in critical condition, Reuters reported.
Manufactured in 1990, the twin-engine Piper PA-42-1000 took off shortly after 9 am local time from nearby Canela airport and was heading to Jundiai in Sao Paulo state under unfavorable weather conditions, the governor said.
He noted that the cause of the crash is being investigated by the Aeronautical Accident Investigation and Prevention Center (Cenipa).
The plane reportedly first struck the chimney of a building then the second floor of a house before crashing into a furniture store, authorities said. Debris also reached a nearby inn.
Nestled in a mountainous region, Gramado is the most popular tourist destination in Rio Grande do Sul, which was severely impacted earlier this year by unprecedented floods that claimed dozens of lives, destroyed infrastructure and significantly disrupted the state's economy.