For two years now, almost fifty hostages have been in the hands of the Hamas terrorists.

For an unimaginable 733 days.

On Monday evening, I met relatives of the hostages in Tel Aviv.

Some of them saw with their own eyes how the terrorists dragged their relatives from homes and safe rooms on to truck beds or motorbikes.

The people whom I met on Monday have fought like lions for their loved ones during the past two years.

They have felt fear and hope. Sometimes they have despaired.

Some of them were able to hold their loved ones in their arms again after fraught negotiations.

But this was the case for far too few of them.

Others only have the sad certainty that they can no longer hope to be reunited.

They can merely hope that the remains will be returned so that their loved ones can be given a dignified funeral.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Israel is not a big country.

Almost every family knows a hostage family or has a son or daughter in the military.

7 October 2023 was perhaps the darkest day for the Jewish people since the Shoah.

More than any other event in the 77‑year history of the State of Israel, this day utterly undermined the certainty that Jews could live in safety in Israel and overturned the fundamental promise of “never again!”

On 7 October 2023, the terrorist group Hamas reactivated the trauma of the Shoah.

Hamas has led Israel into the longest war in its history, a war that has now lasted two years and has also caused devastating suffering to the people in the Gaza Strip.

It is important to me that we remember here today the dimension of 7 October for Jews all over the world, that we recall how fundamentally their need for security was shaken and that we pay tribute to the victims.

This is important to me not only because we have experienced a shameful and unacceptable wave of antisemitism in Germany and other countries in the world in the two years since 7 October 2023, but also because we have seen in recent months how the empathy and solidarity with the Jewish people shown after 7 October – both in Germany and in many other places in the world – have been partly compromised by incomprehension regarding the Israeli Government’s decisions and the dimensions of Israel’s warfare, as well as by horror in the face of the tens of thousands of Palestinian victims and the catastrophic humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip.

Sadly, we have seen a certain amount of alienation arise in the two years since this tragic day for the Jewish people worldwide, a day since when there has only been a “before” and an “after”.

Fellow members of this House,

I want to state here clearly that criticism, incomprehension and perhaps even horror in the face of a government policy are legitimate.

However, criticism of an Israeli Government cannot be allowed to automatically mean criticism of the State of Israel, let alone of all Jews!

Particularly in Germany, we have and will retain a responsibility – an historic responsibility – for separating these aspects.

We must feel and take on responsibility for the security of Jewish people in our country, for the existence and security of the State of Israel irrespective of its government policy at any given time.

We must repeatedly make clear that we stand firmly and steadfastly with Israel and its people.

7 October 2023 was an act of unconceivable barbarism that should shock us all.

This barbarism must never be allowed to prevail!

At the same time, we are not turning a blind eye to the suffering of the people in Gaza and their right to life, self-determination, protection and dignity.

Fellow members of this House,

During my trip this week and my numerous talks in Kuwait, Qatar, Israel and Egypt, I felt very clearly that we are now, after these past two years, at a turning point.

The atmosphere has totally changed.

There is hope. For the first time, there is hope again among the families of the hostages, but also in Israeli society, Gaza, the Arab countries and the region.

There is hope that the hostages will return home, that the dying in the Gaza Strip will end.

There is hope for a ceasefire and a massive increase in humanitarian assistance.

There is hope for a future.

The 20‑Point Plan supported by Trump and the Arab countries is a wise combination of elements on ending the war and for the “day after” that have been discussed for some time, including with Germany at the table.

We are grateful to the US President for throwing his entire political weight behind this vision.

However, it is equally crucial that the Arab countries – Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – have played their part and supported the plan.

It is important that they are giving thought to the matter, that they provide technocrats who could take on tasks below the level of the Board of Peace chaired by President Trump.

The ball is now in Hamas’s court. It must finally agree to the plan.

The suffering in Gaza could be stopped by the 20‑Point Plan.

But equally the plan allows for the prospect of an independent Palestinian statehood and of the Palestinian Authority taking over responsibility in the Gaza Strip – the prospect of a two‑state solution, which we continue to support.

Fellow members of this House,

Germany has been helping to lay the groundwork for the Palestinian Authority for many years.

We are one of the largest donors of humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip.

We enjoy the trust of the Arab countries and have a particularly close relationship with Israel.

This means that we have something to offer in the region.

It is thus completely clear to me that we will play our part should there be a temporary international administration of the Gaza Strip, whether this support involves aspects of stabilisation, reconstruction, administration issues or, naturally, continued humanitarian assistance.

This is why I agreed yesterday with my Egyptian counterpart that Egypt and Germany will co‑organise a reconstruction conference for Gaza.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Following two years of unimaginable suffering in the region, it now depends on this moment.

We will not shy away from our responsibility, as we have a unique duty to support Israel’s existence and security, as international law and human rights are part of our foreign policy DNA and because, two years after 7 October 2023, we want to pave the way to a future in which Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace, security and dignity.

Thank you.