<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Spanish Government condemned this Monday the Israeli bombings against the south and east of Lebanon and warned of the need to avoid war “at all costs”. For its part, Izquierda Unida, a minority partner in Pedro Sánchez's Executive, has called for the breaking of diplomatic relations with Israel.</strong></h4> “The Government of Spain expresses its deep consternation and condemnation of the Israeli bombings today against the south and east of Lebanon, which have left hundreds dead, in response to the attacks by Hezbollah this weekend on Israel,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “The spiral of violence must stop,” it added. The Lebanese authorities have reported more than 270 dead and more than a thousand wounded as a result of the Israeli offensive. “War must be avoided at all costs,” the Foreign Ministry warned. “All parties must respect the lives of civilians and the basic principles of International Humanitarian Law,” it continued. “It is necessary to de-escalate tensions and fully implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701,” it added. “An immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza is absolutely necessary to reduce regional tension,” it concluded. “Shocked by the news coming from Lebanon, with hundreds of victims and wounded,” declared the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, through his official account on the social network X. “My thoughts are with their loved ones,” he continued. “Our strongest condemnation of this violence, which only distances us from peace. We demand compliance with International Humanitarian Law,” he concluded. For her part, the federal head of Organization and Internal Area and federal spokesperson for Izquierda Unida, Eva García Sempere, condemned Israel's attacks against Lebanon and reiterated the “urgent need to break diplomatic relations and bring its genocidal leaders to justice.” These “terrorist and sabotage attacks against the Lebanese population,” in addition to being an “obvious barbarity” in themselves, “can only be read as a deliberate attack on Lebanon to force its entry into a general war, not only in Lebanon, but escalating to the entire Arab region,” she denounced during a telematic press conference. This “reckless” policy by Israel “not only against the Palestinian population, but also escalating to other countries, endangers the entire Arab region, but also the entire planet,” she warned. Therefore, she warned, “we cannot limit ourselves to a mere condemnation” and Spain must, “urgently, break diplomatic relations with Israel, impose a real military embargo and, obviously, bring its genocidal and racist leaders to justice.” <h5><strong>Spanish mission</strong></h5> Yesterday, the Minister of Defence,<strong> Margarita Robles</strong>, told journalists that the Spanish troops deployed within the framework of the mission of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) are in "high spirits" and that they have transmitted "calm" to her. She also said that the usual patrol work has been suspended and currently only the "essential" tasks are carried out. More than 650 Spanish soldiers deployed with UNIFIL regularly patrol southern Lebanon on the so-called "blue line" on the border between that country and Israel to monitor the cessation of hostilities between the parties.
