Israel on Thursday stated it was recalling its envoy to Madrid after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez stated he doubted Israel revered the worldwide humanitarian regulation in Gaza and repeated navy motion within the strip was not acceptable.
“The footage we are seeing and the growing numbers of people dying, especially boys and girls, I have serious doubt (Israel) is complying with international humanitarian law,” Sanchez stated in an interview with Spanish state-owned broadcaster TVE.
“What we are seeing in Gaza is not acceptable,” he added.
“Because of the outrageous remarks by the Spanish prime minister, who again repeated baseless claims, I have decided to summon the Israeli ambassador in Spain for consultations in (west) Jerusalem,” Foreign Minister Eli Cohen wrote on X, previously referred to as Twitter.
Sanchez’s feedback prompted the Israeli authorities to summon the Spanish ambassador for the second time in lower than 10 days.
Diplomatic tensions between Israel and Spain have soared following repeated remarks by Sanchez criticizing Israel’s navy marketing campaign in Gaza that adopted Palestinian resistance group Hamas’ assault on Oct. 7.
Cohen’s remarks got here after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s instruction to the Foreign Ministry to summon the Spanish ambassador for a “rebuke session.”
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed Minister of Foreign Affairs Eli Cohen to summon the Spanish Ambassador to Israel for a reprimand following the shameful comments by the Spanish Prime Minister,” his workplace stated with out specifying if the summons had taken place or a date.
Sanchez on Thursday stated the world needed to inform Israel “it needs to base its actions on international humanitarian law.”
Israel has additionally recalled its ambassadors from Türkiye and South Africa following remarks by these international locations’ leaders over its navy marketing campaign in Gaza, which has killed over 15,000 Palestinians, largely girls and youngsters.
It was not instantly clear when Israeli Ambassador Rodica Radian-Gordon would depart Madrid for west Jerusalem.
Last week, related feedback by Sanchez and his Belgian counterpart Alexander De Croo in Egypt’s Rafah crossing prompted Israel to summon the ambassadors of each international locations over remarks that it claimed repeated “false claims” and accused the 2 leaders of supporting “terrorism.”
Sanchez denounced the “indiscriminate killings of innocent civilians,” whereas Belgium’s De Croo stated Israel’s “operation needs to respect international humanitarian law.”
A Spanish authorities supply stated Israel has referred to as within the Spanish ambassador a number of instances since Oct. 7.
Despite final week’s diplomatic spat, although, Sanchez, who’s pushing for a peace convention, stated that the connection between Israel and Spain was “correct” and “friendly countries also have to say things to each other.”
‘EU ought to acknowledge Palestinian state’
Sanchez additionally insisted that European international locations ought to focus on the popularity of the State of Palestine, which he says can be in Europe’s pursuits and would increase its ethical standing.
“What we are witnessing in Gaza is unacceptable. And what is going to happen in Gaza after the spiral of violence ends is not going to be acceptable either,” he stated.
Recognizing Palestine as a step towards peace would even be within the EU’s geopolitical pursuits, he famous.
Sanchez stated he has heard from representatives of Muslim nations that Western solidarity rings hole and peace conferences don’t work as a result of guarantees will not be complied with.
“I think they are right. Because all these years, we’ve watched as Israel has systematically been occupying Palestinian territory in the West Bank. And now we are seeing what’s happening in Gaza,” stated the prime minister.
He expressed his concern that with out peace, the battle might spill into different nations like Lebanon, Egypt or Jordan and destabilize the Mediterranean area.
“Do we really want to have two open fronts? One in the Middle East and one in Ukraine? Politics and diplomacy should help prevent that, and that is what the Spanish government defends,” Sanchez stated.
During his Middle East tour final week, Sanchez introduced that Spain would unilaterally acknowledge Palestine if different member states or the EU itself failed to take action.
In the EU, 9 of the 27 international locations have already acknowledged the State of Palestine. In 2014, Sweden turned the primary EU member state to unilaterally accomplish that, whereas different nations like Malta and a few from the previous Eastern bloc had already acknowledged Palestine earlier than becoming a member of the EU.
Of the 193 U.N. member states, 139 had acknowledged the State of Palestine as of June 2023. Sanchez emphasised that “mainly Western states” are those who’ve failed to take action, together with the EU and the U.S.
Source: www.dailysabah.com