Spain warns that attacks on Lebanon strengthen Hezbollah and “worsen” Israel’s own security

Eduardo González The Spanish government reiterated its support on Monday for Lebanon’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity,” stating that Lebanon “did not choose this war” and warning that attacks by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government against the country are strengthening the Shiite militia Hezbollah and “worsen” Israel’s own security. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez spoke on Monday with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to express “Spain’s support and solidarity” with his country. “Lebanon did not choose this war, and its sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected,” the Prime Minister posted on social media. According to Sánchez, the Spanish troops of the UN mission (UNIFIL) “are doing commendable work,” and the attacks against the UN peacekeeping mission “are intolerable and must cease immediately.” Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares again condemned on April 3 the “new attack” against UNIFIL, in which several soldiers were wounded, and reiterated that the mission “cannot be the target of attacks.” “Respect for Resolution 1701 and the work of the United Nations is essential for security in the region,” he added. Albares himself denounced on Monday, in statements to TVE, the “absolutely indiscriminate bombings” against Lebanon, such as those that killed 39 civilians this past Sunday, and the attacks against the United Nations Interim Force, which constitute “a war crime.” “We, of course, demand an investigation into what is happening,” he warned. Therefore, he insisted that Israel must end its attacks against Lebanon, “a sovereign country with a government that, at the time of Israel’s attack, was committed to Lebanon’s economic development, to the disarmament of Hezbollah, to guaranteeing security, and to being able to deploy from the south to also guarantee Israel’s security.” “History has already shown that Israel’s dream of building a security zone in Lebanon only worsens Israel’s security situation,” he warned. “Everything we say about Israel, everything we do, of course takes into account Israel’s legitimate security demands, but after each Israeli invasion of Lebanon, what has emerged is a more unstable Lebanon, and therefore a more unstable neighbor of Israel, with a more radicalized Shiite population, and with a strengthened Hezbollah,” he continued. “Furthermore, this attack we are seeing in Lebanon is happening alongside the ongoing violence in Gaza and the rapidly escalating violence in the West Bank,” he stated. “We practically no longer talk about Gaza and the West Bank, where the situation remains terrible, very worrying. Where is the famous second phase of the Peace Council? It was about to begin the day the war in Iran started. We've even forgotten that a Peace Council exists, with responsibilities that it established itself through a Security Council resolution,” Albares continued. “We cannot, I insist, resign ourselves to Israel's relationship with the other peoples of the Middle East being solely through violence and the law of the strongest. That will certainly bring suffering to everyone in the Middle East and will not guarantee the security of the Israeli people, who have a right to it, but all the other peoples of the Middle East have the same right,” he declared.

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