TEL AVIV: Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with the visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem.
This is the third visit of the Chancellor to Israel, the second visit since the start of the war against Hamas in Gaza.
After the meeting, Netanyahu said, "The army of Israel has done more to minimize civilian casualties than any other army in modern times, and certainly any other army faced with such dense urban warfare and an enemy that seeks to use civilians as human shields, as Hamas does, often at gunpoint."
Netanyahu also said that Israel is making "unusual efforts" to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza. However, he also explained that the main problem with the distribution of this aid once it gets into Gaza is that it is being looted by Hamas.
"We also agree that Hamas has to be eliminated," Netanyahu added.
"We cannot have a future for Gaza, a future for peace, or a future for Israel if Hamas, a terrorist organization committed to our genocide, remains intact. If it remains intact, it will regroup and reconquer the Gaza Strip and, as they vowed, repeat the massacre again and again and again."