Eduardo González
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, will tour Jordan and Qatar between April 1 and 3, two countries recently visited by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, to defend a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, promote the two-state solution and the recognition of the Palestinian State and gather support for the peace conference proposed by Spain.
This is Sánchez’s second tour of the region since the escalation of the Middle East conflict following the Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7 and the subsequent large-scale military response by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in the Gaza Strip.
The previous tour took place at the end of November, when Sánchez and the Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander de Croo, traveled to Israel, the West Bank and Egypt. On that trip, Sánchez told Netanhyahu to his face that the number of Palestinian deaths in Gaza was “really unbearable” and demanded, at the Rafah crossing, “a lasting ceasefire” in the Strip. These words caused a serious diplomatic crisis with Israel, whose Government accused the President of the Government of “supporting terrorism.” In response, Albares summoned the Israeli ambassador in Madrid, Rodica Radian-Gordon, to warn her that these “completely false words” were “unacceptable.”
On this occasion, Sánchez’s tour will begin in Jordan, whose Government, especially King Abdullah II, is especially involved in the search for a solution to the Middle East conflict. Furthermore, Jordan is one of the promoters of the initiative to launch humanitarian aid packages by air to the Gaza Strip in order to circumvent the blockade maintained by Israel by land. To this end, the Spanish Ministry of Defense delivered 110 cargo parachutes to Jordan at the beginning of March, at the request of Abdullah II.
In the first week of December, Pedro Sánchez and Abdullah II held a telephone conversation in which they renewed their call for “an immediate ceasefire in Gaza”, warned of the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Strip and stressed the need to guarantee uninterrupted delivery of aid. A week later, the Hashemite Monarch traveled to Madrid, where he was received by King Felipe VI and Pedro Sánchez, before whom he defended an increase in international pressure to stop the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip and thanked “the position of Spain” in favor of a ceasefire and the two-state solution to end the conflict.
During his visit to Jordan, which took place on March 13, Albares was received by Abdullah II, with whom he addressed, among other issues, the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Likewise, he visited a refugee camp of the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and announced, together with his Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi, that Spain will make “a solemn and official recognition of the Palestinian State” during this same legislature. Sánchez himself committed in November, during the investiture debate, to bring the recognition of the Palestinian State to the Cortes Generales (Spanish Parliament) during this same legislature.
Albares’ visit to the UNRWA camp occurred a week after announcing in Madrid to the commissioner general of this United Nations agency, Philippe Lazzarini, the donation of an additional 20 million euros, despite the decision of a group of countries. to freeze their contributions after a dozen agency employees (out of a workforce of 30,000) have been accused of having participated in the Hamas attacks of October 7. Jordan currently hosts 2.5 million Palestinian refugees and UNRWA provides education to more than 100,000 students in Jordan, provides primary healthcare to almost one million patients and employs 7,000 local workers.
Qatar
After visiting Jordan, Pedro Sánchez will travel to Qatar, a country that Albares also visited on February 6 to inquire about the latest contacts of the Qatari authorities with the opposing parties in the Middle East and to offer the necessary help from Spain to establish “a new dynamic of peace in the region.”
During this visit, both the Emir of the State of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohamed Bin Abdelrahman Al Thani, expressed their gratitude for Spain’s position in favor of regional efforts. and international efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East region. Likewise, Albares was received in Doha by the secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Jasem Albudaiwi, with whom he spoke about the relations of this organization with the EU, the economic relations of Spain with the Gulf countries and the situation in Gaza.
The Emir of Qatar made a state visit to Spain in May 2022 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. During the visit, he held meetings with King Felipe VI and the President of the Government and a joint declaration was signed in which bilateral relations were elevated to a strategic level, as well as a dozen bilateral agreements and memorandums. Likewise, a Business Forum was held between Spain and Qatar and the Emir announced an increase in investments in Spain by 4.7 billion euros.
