Eduardo González
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander de Croo, yesterday asked the President and Prime Minister of Israel, Isaac Herzog and Benjamin Netanyahu, for the protection of “all civilians” and to allow “immediate” the arrival of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
The two leaders have been in the Middle East since yesterday, representing the current Presidency of the Council of the EU (in the case of Sánchez) and the next Presidency of the Union (in the case of De Croo), with the objective of conveying the position of the European Union to the leaders of Israel and Palestine.
During the meeting with Isaac Herzog, which took place at the headquarters of the Presidency of the State of Israel in Jerusalem, Pedro Sánchez conveyed to the president “Spain’s condemnation of Hamas terrorism” and described as a “priority” the “immediate release of the hostages.” He also warned that Israel has the right to defend itself, but must do so within International Law, and called for the protection of “all civilians” and for “humanitarian aid to immediately enter Gaza.” Likewise, the Chief Executive reiterated his commitment to the two-state solution “as the best way to defeat terrorism and guarantee security in Israel.”
For his part, Herzog reported through the social network “In these critical hours, as we pray and work for the return of our hostages held captive in Gaza, I made it clear that Israel has the right to defend itself and that we are committed to International Humanitarian Law,” he added.
Sánchez to Netanyahu: “The Israeli response is disproportionate”
After this meeting, Pedro Sánchez and Alexander de Croo were received by Benjamin Netanyahu at the headquarters of the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) in Jerusalem. During the meeting, the President of the Government assured that “Spain shares Israel’s pain” and understands its “sadness” because, “for decades, it has suffered terribly due to terrorism.”
Likewise, he assured that “Israel has the right to self-defense, but it must respect International Law and Humanitarian Law,” and warned, in this sense, that Israel’s response is being “disproportionate” and that “the fight against terrorism “It cannot be done by force alone.” “The number of dead Palestinians is truly unbearable. There must be a clear distinction between military objectives and the protection of civilians,” said Pedro Sánchez during the meeting.
Sánchez also defended the need to “start working now on the application of the two-state solution” because, “today more than ever, we need to return to a serious and credible perspective of peace.” “Without a political solution, we are doomed to endless new cycles of violence,” he warned. “I have proposed calling an international peace conference with the parties as soon as possible. The European Union, the League of Arab States and the Organization for Islamic Cooperation have supported the idea,” explained the President of the Government.
“Any solution must be comprehensive in nature,” because “Israel is interested in working for peace, and today peace means the establishment of the Palestinian State, a viable Palestinian State that includes the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations,” he added. “Israelis and Palestinians have the right to live in peace and security” and the international community “must accompany the process to achieve this,” Sánchez stated. “You can count on Spain for that difficult mission,” he concluded.
Before starting the meeting, according to Israeli Government sources, Benjamin Netanyahu showed the two European leaders a video summary of the Hamas attacks on October 7 with “very harsh” scenes. This video is similar to the one projected by Israeli Embassies around the world.
“We are facing a peculiar type of enemy, a particularly cruel and inhuman enemy,” Netanyahu said during the meeting, according to the Israeli Embassy. “They are genocidal. “They are not fighting for this or that territory, they are fighting to eliminate the Jewish State,” he continued. “Its objective goes beyond the destruction of Israel. They are part of an axis of terror: Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis,” he added. “Together with the moderate Arabs, with the United States and with Europe, we are the allies and they are the new Nazis,” he added.
The PP spokesperson in Congress, Cuca Gamarra, expressed yesterday, during a press conference, her wish that Sánchez “rise to the occasion” on his trip to the Middle East and that “it does not generate an international conflict and a “Spain’s foreign conflict with Israel.”
After their meeting with Netanyahu, Sánchez and De Croo visited the Beeri kibbutz, located about five kilometers from the Gaza Strip and which was attacked by Hamas on October 7 (and in which 85 deaths and 30 hostages were recorded). . The Spaniard Iván Illarramendi, murdered in the attack on another community, worked as a cook in this kibbutz. During his visit, the president showed his “solidarity with the Israeli people” and expressed his desire that those responsible for the attack “be brought to justice and held accountable.”
Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian State
In the afternoon, the delegation traveled to Ramallah, in the West Bank, to meet with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. During the meeting, Pedro Sánchez defended that the Palestinian Authority assume control of the Gaza Strip when the current conflict with Israel ends and reiterated Spain’s commitment to the materialization of the two-state solution.
For his part, according to the official Palestinian agency WAFA, Abbas informed both leaders about the latest events in the Gaza Strip and warned of the need to “immediately put an end” to Israel’s aggression in the occupied territories and to “the crimes of genocide”, as well as “accelerating the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip”.
Likewise, he affirmed that security and peace depend on a two-state solution “based on international legality and the Arab Peace Initiative to end the Israeli occupation of the territory of the State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” and he thanked Pedro Sánchez for his commitment to “working for the recognition of the Palestinian State.”
During the recent investiture debate, Pedro Sánchez assured that “the new Government is going to work in Europe and in Spain to recognize the Palestinian State.” Marta Lois, spokesperson for Sumar (minority partner in the coalition government) in Congress, yesterday demanded “a clear real commitment to the recognition of the Palestinian State, which should be done now.” For his part, the PSOE spokesperson in Congress, Patxi López, declared yesterday to the press that it has not yet been decided how to process the initiative in Congress for Spain to recognize the Palestinian State. In statements to Spanish National Radio, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, assured yesterday that Spain is in favor of recognizing the State of Palestine “in the short term”, but “not that it will be imminent.”
Pedro Sánchez and Alexander de Croo will conclude their regional tour in Egypt today, where they will meet with the country’s president, Abdel Fatah al Sisi, with whom they will later offer a joint press conference, and with the secretary general of the Arab League, Ahmed Abul Gheit. Next, they will meet with the civil governor of the North Sinai demarcation and will travel to the Rafah Pass, which connects Egypt with Gaza and where humanitarian aid enters the Strip. In this place, Pedro Sánchez will report on future aid from Spain to the Palestinian population.
