Eduardo González
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, was received yesterday in Amman by the King of Jordan, Abdullah II, with whom he addressed, among other issues, the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Likewise, he visited a refugee camp of the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and announced, together with his Jordanian counterpart, Aymán Safadi, that Spain will make “a solemn and official recognition of the Palestinian State” during this same legislature.
Albares’ meeting with Abdullah II and with the crown prince, Hussein bin Al Abdullah, which was not on the agenda of the tour, made it possible to address bilateral relations and the situation in Gaza, the West Bank and throughout the Middle East, according to the Ministry. of Foreign Affairs. The minister was accompanied by the Spanish ambassador in Amman, Miguel de Lucas.
Abdullah II is especially involved in the search for a solution to the Middle East conflict, which has worsened with the Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7 and the subsequent large-scale military response by the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu in the Gaza Strip.
In the first week of December, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and Abdullah II held a telephone conversation in which they renewed their call for “an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.” A week later, the Hashemite monarch traveled to Madrid, where he was received by King Felipe VI and Pedro Sánchez and where he defended an increase in international pressure to stop the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip and thanked “the position of Spain” in favor of a ceasefire and the two-state solution to end the conflict.
UNRWA
As announced, Albares visited a UNRWA Palestinian refugee camp yesterday. “I have met families, young people and girls in Jordan who, thanks to the work of UNRWA, receive education, food, basic services,” declared the minister through his official account on the social network wishes for a future in peace and opportunities,” he added.
The visit to the camp occurred a week after announcing in Madrid to the commissioner general of this United Nations agency, Philippe Lazzarini, the donation of an additional 20 million euros, despite the decision of a group of countries to freeze their contributions. after a dozen agency employees (out of a workforce of 30,000) have been accused of having participated in the Hamas attacks of October 7.
Precisely, the minister specified yesterday in the joint press conference with his Jordanian counterpart that “part of this new contribution that we are going to make to UNRWA will arrive in Jordan for projects within the Palestinian refugee camps, like the one I have had the opportunity to visit.” this morning”. Jordan currently hosts 2.5 million Palestinian refugees and UNRWA provides education to more than 100,000 students in Jordan, provides primary healthcare to almost one million patients and employs 7,000 local workers.
During the aforementioned press conference with Aymán Safadi, Albares announced the signing of two new agreements on political consultations and collaboration between diplomatic schools and reported that both ministers had addressed the expansion of economic relations to sectors such as renewable energies and water management and the “financial and political commitment” of Spain with the Aqaba desalination project, “a priority for Spanish cooperation and for the AECID.” “Jordan is the largest partner of our cooperation in the Arab world, along with Palestine,” he assured. “It is a priority country and will continue to be, and between 2020 and 2024 we have committed almost 90 million euros,” he added.
Palestinian state
As expected, the main point of the meeting was “the tragic crisis that Gaza is currently experiencing and the also very worrying situation in the West Bank,” Albares explained. “Jordanian diplomacy has a particularly strong and especially authoritative voice” on this matter “and is deploying constant decisive action that is for all of us, for all diplomacies in the world, a fundamental reference,” he added.
According to the minister, both agreed on the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire that facilitates the unconditional entry of humanitarian aid and that allows the civilian population to stop dying from bombs, but also from hunger. as well as demanding “the unconditional and immediate release of the hostages” of Hamas and “unconditional respect for International Humanitarian Law.”
“Spain and Jordan agree that it will only be possible to consolidate a definitive and lasting ceasefire if we implement the two-state solution once and for all,” Albares warned. “We want a Palestine internationally recognized as a sovereign State that lives in peace and security alongside the State of Israel,” because “it is not an ideological issue, it is a question of justice and a question of peace on which the international community cannot remain alien for longer,” he continued.
In this sense, Albares recalled that the President of the Government has committed to bringing the recognition of the Palestinian State to the Cortes Generales (Spanish Parliament) during this legislature and to “make a solemn and official recognition of the Palestinian State, because, in these circumstances, it is the only instrument that we have to guarantee the viability and future existence of what we want: a real Palestinian State as a member of the international community.” “When this Palestinian State exists, of course, Spain and its financial support will also be present so that it can exist,” he assured. “It is justice for the Palestinian people, but it is also the best to guarantee the security of Israel and peace and stability in the Middle East,” he concluded.
After his visit to Jordan, Albares traveled to Egypt, where he held a meeting with representatives of international organizations. The tour will conclude today in Cairo, where he will meet with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry, and with Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
