German Chancellor Friedrich Merz faced mounting pressure from within his coalition Wednesday to adopt a tougher stance on Israel, as lawmakers urged Germany to back a Western-led statement condemning the "inhumane killing" of Palestinians.
Merz, who leads Germany's center-right CDU, has been increasingly critical of Israel. But Germany was notably absent from the joint statement issued Monday by the EU Crisis Management Commissioner and 28 Western countries, including Britain and France, that called on Israel to immediately end the war.
The countries condemned what they called the "drip feeding of aid" to Palestinians in Gaza and said it was "horrifying" that more than 800 civilians had been killed while seeking aid.
Reem Alabali Radovan, international development minister in Merz's cabinet and a member of the center-left SPD junior coalition partners, said Tuesday she was unhappy with Germany's decision not to sign it.
"The demands in the letter from the 29 partners to the Israeli government are understandable to me. I would have wished for Germany to join the signal sent by the 29 partners," she said.
