Aid for people in Gaza must begin quickly, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said in Paris on Thursday.

"We are ready to provide humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip immediately," he said at the hastily convened conference of several foreign ministers from European and Arab states. Action must be taken swiftly because "thousands of people are still under threat there." 

Wadephul had left a high-level meeting of foreign ministers on the Western Balkans in Belfast, Northern Ireland, earlier than planned to travel to the French capital.

While still in Belfast, he commented on his proposal made earlier in the week to host a reconstruction conference together with Egypt.

"This will, however, have to be a politically broader conference that also outlines the political framework for the Gaza Strip and, of course, always keeps in mind that there will ultimately have to be a two-state solution," he said.

Wadephul: Israel must be involved

Israel must not be absent from such a conference, unlike in Paris, he added.

Wadephul also called for a United Nations mandate for further development: "We need a legal framework for everything that is now taking place in the Gaza Strip," he said.

However, it remains to be seen whether such far-reaching plans will find favor with the main negotiators — the Israelis, Palestinians and Americans.

Even before the surprising agreement between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on an exchange of hostages and prisoners and the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza, Wadephul had addressed rebuilding the devastated coastal area on the Mediterranean.

Last weekend, he extended a trip to the Middle East to include stops in Israel and Egypt. While in Cairo, he said that Germany was prepared to initiate a conference on reconstruction together with Egypt.

Government coalition supports reconstruction

In Berlin, politicians from the ruling coalition parties, the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), agreed with this approach.

"Germany has a number of reasons to help rebuild Gaza: migration policy, security policy, humanitarian policy. And not least of which on grounds of Staatsräson," CDU foreign policy expert Jürgen Hardt told the Funke Media Group.

German Staatsräson, or "reason of state,” essentially means Germany's unconditional commitment to the existence and security of Israel, which stems from Germany's responsibility for the genocide of around 6 million European Jews committed by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945.

SPD foreign policy spokesman Adis Ahmetovic also suggested that Germany could make a particular contribution to "the construction of temporary accommodation, the removal of rubble, the restoration of the water supply, and the construction of sanitary facilities" in Gaza.

Development Minister Reem Alabali Radovan (SPD) had already made similar proposals during a trip to Israel in late August.

But concrete plans for reconstruction are unclear. "I can't give you any further details at this stage, except to say that the conference will take place," Foreign Office spokesman Martin Giese told DW.

"The context is clear: it's about the reconstruction of Gaza. But of course, it's also about long-term solutions for stability in the region, including the protection of Israel from further aggression. The conference in Paris is the starting point for this."

Israel criticizes meeting in Paris

However, Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa'ar's reaction to that meeting shows how difficult European efforts to develop a reconstruction plan for Gaza are likely to be.

Wadephul met with Sa'ar in Israel just a few days ago, and the two are said to get along well.

Yet in a post on X this past Wednesday, Sa'ar said that the conference in Paris was "unnecessary and harmful,” adding: "We view this as yet another attempt by President Macron to divert attention from his domestic problems at Israel's expense."

Israel's relations with France are at a low point after President Emmanuel Macron recognized a Palestinian state at the end of September.

Germany and other European countries have not done so, and the role that they could play in the reconstruction of Gaza has yet to be determined.

In the 20-point plan laid out by US President Donald Trump late last month, Europe plays on a minor role, if any, in the initial steps toward peace.

This article was originally written in German.