The Diplomat
The acting Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, spoke yesterday with the heads of the United Nations Mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL), in which there is a Spanish contingent deployed, to convey to them the “support” of the Executive for their work in the face of the seriousness of the escalation of the war between Israel and Gaza.
Sánchez himself reported on the social network X that he had held a conversation with General Aroldo Lázaro, head of the United Nations Mission in Lebanon, and with General Luis Jesús Fernández Herrero, commander of Sector East, where the Spanish contingent is deployed.
The head of the Executive assured that “the Spanish soldiers deployed in Lebanon continue to work for regional stability”.
The artillery of the Israel Defence Forces attacked on Saturday the area of Lebanon from which they claim that their territory has been fired upon, and which is controlled by the Hezbollah militia.
For his parte, the acting foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, spoke by telephone yesterday with his counterparts in Israel, Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia to follow developments in the situation of a declared state of war following attacks by the Islamist movement Hamas from the Gaza Strip against Israeli territory, whose army has counterattacked.
Through messages on the social network X, Albares said that he also contacted the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, on Saturday night to “coordinate European action”.
The minister said that in the talks they discussed how to deal with the attacks on Israel and their consequences, adding: “We must avoid regional escalation of the conflict and the loss of more innocent lives”.
The previous day, in addition to his Israeli counterpart, Albares also spoke with Jordanian, Egyptian and Palestinian counterparts.
The minister also indicated that the teams at the Spanish Embassy in Tel Aviv and the Consulate in Jerusalem are fully mobilised to attend to Spanish citizens in Israel.
According to the respective authorities, more than 700 people have died in Israel and nearly 400 in the Gaza Strip as a result of the actions between the parties since the offensive began last Saturday. In addition, more than 4,000 people have been wounded and around 100 Israelis have been taken hostage by Hamas.
