Tel Aviv, 17 October 2023 (dpa/MIA) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has arrived in Israel on a visit to show solidarity after the unprecedented Hamas attack on the country.

"My visit to Israel is a visit to friends. Germany stands firmly by Israel's side," the chancellor wrote on platform X.

He is expected to hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv during his visit.

He will then fly on to Egypt to meet President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi.

"It's about protecting the civilian population in the Gaza Strip and avoiding a conflagration," Scholz wrote.

Scholz is also set to meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog and the relatives of hostages taken by Hamas, among whom are several German nationals.

The chancellor has repeatedly assured Israel of Germany's solidarity, saying Israel's security is Germany's "reason of state" - a phrase alluding to Berlin's historical responsibility to safeguard the Jewish people, and the country of Israel, following the Holocaust.

The chancellor is the second head of government to visit the country since the Hamas attack 10 days ago, after Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu arrived in Israel earlier on Tuesday.

The Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 killed over 1,400 people and 199 were taken hostage. Retaliatory Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have killed over 2,800 so far, as the humanitarian situation in the densely populated enclave continues to worsen.

"The Hamas attack was a terrorist act that was irresponsible, that has terrible consequences, that has killed an incredible number of people and humiliated an incredible number," Scholz said ahead of his departure. "And therefore Israel has every right to defend itself."

Israeli President Herzog told dpa on Tuesday that Scholz was a great friend of Israel. The support of the entire German leadership was "incredible," Herzog said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Scholz met Jordan's King Abdullah II in Berlin, who said his country would take in no more Palestinian refugees.

"No refugees in Jordan, no refugees in Egypt," he said. Egypt is the only country that borders the Gaza Strip besides Israel, though the border is closed off.

Fuel, food, and electricity supplies to the densely populated coastal enclave have been cut off following the attacks and so far humanitarian aid deliveries have not been let in.

Abdullah stressed the importance of providing humanitarian aid to Gazans. Civilians must be protected in the conflict, regardless of their religion or nationality, he said.

Over recent days, Scholz has held talks on the escalating crisis with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Berlin and by phone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Photo: MIA archive