German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said he is opposed to an “immediate” ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, AFP reports.

“I freely admit that I don’t think the calls for an immediate ceasefire or long pause — which would amount to the same thing — are right, because that would mean ultimately that Israel leaves Hamas the possibility of recovering and obtaining new missiles,” he said in a debate organised by the German regional daily Heilbronner Stimme.