<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares expressed his rejection this Tuesday of Israel's resumption of "indiscriminate" bombings against "the civilian population" of the Gaza Strip.</strong></h4> "There are mutual accusations, but I can't find the words to describe the situation," Albares declared during an interview on the Onda Cero program 'Más de Uno', following Israel's decision to terminate the ceasefire agreement with Hamas and resume bombings of the Gaza Strip, which have caused more than 300 deaths in recent hours. "We must regret and reject this new wave of violence and these new bombings, which also indiscriminately target the civilian population," he denounced. "That is not the path to peace, for Palestinians and Israelis, nor is it the way to guarantee security for any people in the Middle East or to give them stability," he warned. “The way forward is to make the ceasefire permanent, allow humanitarian aid to enter, and finally create a Palestinian state to live in peace with Israel,” he insisted. <h5><strong>Ukraine</strong></h5> Regarding Ukraine, Albares expressed his hope that Russian President Vladimir Putin “will accept the hand extended” by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and that, during his planned conversation with US President Donald Trump, he will accept “a ceasefire without conditions.” “There are already reports that they are asking for too many conditions and too many ifs and buts,” he recalled. “This call will reveal who truly wants peace. I hope we can say that Russia wants peace too,” he added. <h5><strong>Defense Spending</strong></h5> Albares also called for a more "broad vision" from the opposition parliamentary groups, who "should be united around the government and Europe" regarding the increase in defense spending. He asserted that President of the Government Pedro Sánchez had "perfectly" explained the "current situation" to the leader of the People's Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, during their meeting last Thursday at Moncloa Palace. "This goes far beyond Defense; it's a time when there's no need to explain much; it's obvious, and it's a moment of unity among political forces," he warned. This is not "a decision by the Government or the PSOE's program," but rather "joint decisions by Europeans to guarantee the life plans of the Spanish people due to circumstances imposed from outside," he continued. For this reason, he insisted, the opposition parliamentary groups "should be united around the government and Europe" in a situation in which "a broad vision is needed," because this is not the time "to oppose." After last Thursday's meeting, the first of the round of contacts the President of the Government held that day with all groups (except Vox) to address the increase in defense spending, the PP leader declared that Pedro Sánchez had not specified "anything" and had not given him "any answers" to his questions about "whether he is willing to send troops and more weapons to Ukraine," about "what percentage of GDP" will be allocated to defense spending, or "whether the current defense budget will be increased." In this regard, Albares assured Onda Cero that Sánchez explained "perfectly" to Feijóo what "the current situation" is during their meeting in Moncloa. "The PP also has an advantage over other parties in that it belongs to a political family that sits in many governments of the European Council," he continued. If Feijóo "finds it too difficult or believes it's not in his political culture to seek unity with the government, he should say he will seek that unity with his political family or with the president of the Commission," Ursula von der Leyen, he added. Regarding whether he expects a "no" in Congress to the government's proposal to increase defense spending, Albares responded that he doesn't like to talk about "political fiction" and that the executive "has no problem going to Parliament." After Thursday's meeting, the PP leader also demanded that any agreements adopted be "endorsed by Congress," because "only Congress has the power to control and approve government spending" and because "there are European parliaments that are already voting yes or no to their prime ministers' proposals."
