<h6><strong>The Diplomat</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Spanish government demanded this Tuesday the resumption of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, following Israel's decision to end the truce with Hamas and resume bombing the territory, which has caused more than 400 deaths in recent hours, according to Palestinian medical sources.</strong></h4> "The bombing of the Gaza Strip, which has left hundreds of civilian victims, must stop immediately," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared in a statement. "Spain demands the resumption of the ceasefire as the only way to secure the release of all hostages and alleviate the humanitarian situation," it continued. "The indiscriminate attacks on the civilian population constitute a violation of International Humanitarian Law," the statement concluded. For his part, the President of the Government Pedro Sánchez has issued a brief message on social media: "Atrocious. Sad. Unacceptable." Hours earlier, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, expressed his rejection of the resumption of Israel's "indiscriminate" bombing of "the civilian population" in the Gaza Strip. “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.” “We must deplore and reject this new wave of violence and these new bombings, which also indiscriminately target the civilian population,” he denounced. “This 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 bring stability to them,” he warned. “The way is to make the ceasefire permanent, allow humanitarian aid to enter, and finally establish a Palestinian state to live in peace with Israel,” he insisted. <h5><strong>EU statement</strong></h5> For their part, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas; the European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Šuica; and the European Commissioner for Crisis Preparedness and Management, Hadja Lahbib, issued a joint statement on Tuesday stating that "the EU deplores the breakdown of the ceasefire in Gaza and the deaths of civilians, including children, in Israeli airstrikes.” “The EU calls on Israel to end its military operations and reiterates its call on Hamas to release all the hostages immediately. It urges Israel to exercise restraint and to resume unimpeded entry of humanitarian aid and electricity to Gaza,” continues. “We call on all parties to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law,” add the text. “The EU believes that the resumption of negotiations is the only way forward. Palestinians and Israelis have suffered immensely over the past year and a half. It is time to break the cycle of violence. Stability is a prerequisite for swift reconstruction,” the statement says. “The Rafah Crossing Point is closed until further notice. In the current situation, the EU's EUBAM Rafah mission is not deploying personnel at the RCP, but stays in the region pending further developments,” it concludes.
