German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed backing for the U.S.-brokered Gaza peace proposal during a phone call with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the government said Saturday, before he took off for his inaugural visits to Israel and Jordan.
In a written statement, government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said Merz "underlined his support for U.S. President Donald Trump's peace plan" during the conversation and welcomed the Palestinian Authority's cooperative stance toward the proposal.
A two-state solution envisions and independent Palestinian state coexisting peacefully alongside Israel, a notion rejected by Netanyahu's right-wing religious government.
Merz reiterated that a negotiated two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict must remain the ultimate objective, emphasizing that such a framework could open a path to "lasting peace and security" for both Israelis and Palestinians.
The chancellor stressed that the Palestinian Authority must now urgently implement long-needed reforms, the statement said, adding: "If this is achieved, it can play a constructive role in the post-war order."
Merz is not planning to visit the Palestinian Territories during his trip.
Germany is one of Israel's closest allies alongside the United States, yet the visit only comes seven months after Merz took office in May. His predecessor, Olaf Scholz, travelled to Israel after only three months in office.
The German leader will first stop in Amman, where he is scheduled to meet Jordan's King Abdullah II.
Later on Saturday, Merz is to be received by Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem. A meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planned for Sunday.
Merz is also scheduled to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial to lay a wreath, a customary element of every inaugural visit by a German chancellor to Israel.
The trip is expected to focus on the recently strained relations between the two countries and on further stabilizing the cease-fire in Gaza.
Merz plans to meet with former hostages held in Gaza as well as the relatives of abductees killed in Hamas captivity.
