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Latest Mideast escalation is matter of 'war and peace': Merkel

AFP/The Local
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Latest Mideast escalation is matter of 'war and peace': Merkel
Angela Merkel was in Aachen on Thursday for the award of the Charlemagne prize. Photo: DPA

The latest escalation of hostilities in the Middle East involving Iran and Israel is a matter of "war and peace" for the region, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Thursday.

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"The escalation of the last hours show us that it's really about war and peace," said Merkel.

Berlin earlier accused Iran of 'provocation' after Israeli positions were targeted by rockets in the occupied Golan Heights.

"These attacks are a serious provocation that we strongly condemn. As we have always emphasised, Israel has a right to self-defence," said a German foreign ministry spokeswoman in a statement after claims that Iranian forces in Syria fired dozens of rockets at Israeli army positions in the area.

She added however that it is "crucial that there is no further escalation".

To that end, she said "a sustainable political solution" must be found to end the conflict in Syria, "so as to end the suffering of the Syrian people, but also so as not to further jeopardise stability in the whole region".

Israel's army said Thursday that Iranian forces in Syria fired around 20 rockets and missiles at Israeli army positions in Golan Heights overnight.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said dozens of rockets were fired from Syria on the Israeli-occupied Golan, but did not confirm Israeli reports they were fired by Iranian forces.

READ ALSO: Iran nuclear deal ‘should never be called into question', says Merkel

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