Scholz: Germany's 'only place' now is at Israel's side

German chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday, 12 October, delivered a statement on the situation in Israel, following Hamas' deadly attack over the weekend. The German leader said his country's "only place" right now is at Israel's side.

More than 1,200 people were killed in the large-scale attacks on 7 October that saw thousands of rockets fired from Gaza and then hundreds of Hamas militants entering southern Israel.

What has Scholz said?

"Over 1,000 citizens of Israel have been killed in these terror acts. Thousands of them were severely injured and are fighting for their lives in the hospitals of Israel. In a country with 9 million inhabitants, that means that nearly everybody knows one of the victims. In the whole country of Israel currently, there is mourning… Dear friends in Israel, we mourn with you and we share your suffering," Scholz said in a speech at the Bundestag.

The chancellor's address was followed by a debate on terror attack launched by Hamas, which has been designated as a 'terror organisation' by the European Union (EU), the United States (US) and Israel, among other governments.

Scholz's governing coalition of Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and the Free Democratic Party (FDP), as well as the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU), submitted a motion for a resolution that calls for Israel to be given "full solidarity and all support".

Call for solidarity

On Wednesday, 11 October, Scholz called on Germans to show solidarity with the country's Jewish population.

"I ask for the support of all citizens so that together we can guarantee the safety of our Jewish fellow citizens, and to do this we must show solidarity with them," Scholz said on ARD television.