Israel is carrying out a “planned genocide” in the Gaza Strip by leaving hundreds of thousands of people without water and electricity and demanding their evacuation without any security guarantees, stressed Ione Belarra, leader of the left-wing Unidas Podemos party, calling on Spanish citizens to take the matter to the streets.
Belarra, also Spain’s acting minister for Social Rights in the coalition government with the Socialist Party (PSOE/S&D) of acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, called on people to take to the streets and demonstrate against Israel’s military offensive.
Unidas Podemos (EU Left), as well as the left-wing platform Sumar led by the acting Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz, have in recent days been highly critical of Israel’s retaliation, accusing the EU of having “double standards” in the conflict in favour of Tel Aviv.
This is not the first time Unidas Podemos has openly exposed its differences with the PSOE on sensitive political issues, as the sending of Spanish Leopard tanks and other weapons to Ukraine has also caused friction between the two coalition partners, as have different economic and social “hot dossiers”.
On Saturday, Sánchez himself requested the International Criminal Court to investigate the military actions of the Israeli government and Hamas as “war crimes”.
In a statement circulated on social media, the leader of Unidas Podemos also demanded that humanitarian corridors be established in the Gaza Strip and that the European Union stop being “an accomplice of a war criminal such (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu”.
Seeking support from the ‘global south’
With her “heart absolutely shrinking”, Belarra accused Israel of carrying out a “planned genocide” in the Gaza Strip “, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without electricity, food and water” and bombing the civilian population “as a collective punishment, in serious breach of international law and which could be considered war crimes”.
She even called on EU presidency holder Spain to distance itself from the line taken by the US of unwavering support for Israel and instead seek a solution with countries of the “global south”.
Respect civilians, increase assistance
Speaking at a PSOE rally in Mérida on Saturday, Sánchez condemned the Hamas attack and reiterated the country’s right to defend itself, although he warned that international humanitarian law must be respected.
He also promised that his government would increase humanitarian aid to Gaza, following the controversy caused in Brussels last week by Neighbourhood and Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi, who surprisingly announced on social media that “all payments” to the Palestinians had been suspended following the Hamas attack.
But Brussels rectified its position shortly afterwards.
While expressing concern about Israel’s order to evacuate northern Gaza ahead of a ground offensive, Sánchez stressed that the operation must follow international humanitarian law, which “does not support the evacuation of Palestinians from Gaza”.
He added that recognising Israel and Palestine as two states is the only way to resolve the conflict.
(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.Euractiv.es)
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