Sánchez asked to explain readiness to recognise Palestinian state

Spain’s centre-right Partido Popular (PP) and the far-right VOX have asked Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to explain Madrid’s readiness to unilaterally recognise the state of Palestine and condemn Israel’s attacks on civilians in Gaza, while the Hamas terrorist group praised his “clear and courageous stance”.

Sánchez and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo visited Palestine and Egypt last weekend, with Sanchez saying, “the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians, including thousands of children, is completely unacceptable” on his visit to the Rafah border crossing.

“We appreciate the clear and bold stance of Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, who affirmed his rejection of the destruction of Gaza and the killing of civilians, and of Spain’s Pedro Sanchez, who condemned the occupying state’s indiscriminate killing of civilians in the Strip, and pointed to the possibility of his country unilaterally recognising the Palestinian state if the EU (European Union) does not take this step,” Hamas said in a statement, EFE reported.

Over 13,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed by Israeli attacks following the Hamas terrorist attack on 7 October that resulted in 1,200 deaths and the taking of some 240 Israeli hostages, UN figures based on data from the Gaza Health Ministry state.

De Croo (Open VLD/Renew Europe) also deplored the large number of Palestinian civilian casualties following the Israeli attacks. “The destruction of Gaza is unacceptable. We cannot accept that a society should be destroyed in the way it is being destroyed”, said De Croo, whose country will take over the six-month EU presidency from Spain on 1 January.

But opposition parties PP and VOX reacted very sharply to Hamas.

Hamas’ thanks to Sánchez is “a total disgrace for Spain and for Europe”, said VOX chief Santiago Abascal.

“The perpetrators (Hamas) of one of the most cruel, inhumane and massive terrorist attacks in human history thank Sánchez for his stance. Hamas joins (the terrorist organisation) ETA, who also thanks Sánchez by giving him their votes (through the Basque separatist party EH Bildu, which supports the PM in parliament). Sánchez is a total disgrace for Spain and Europe,” Abascal wrote on X.

PP Deputy Secretary for Institutional Relations Esteban González Pons demanded explanations for “Sánchez’s diplomatic mission, representing the EU” in Gaza and Egypt, which – according to the right-wing party – has ended “with terrorists (Hamas) thanking him (the Spanish PM) for his audacity”.

Calling on EU to recognise Palestine

Both Sánchez and De Croo expressed their support for a two-state solution, which they say would need the recognition of Palestine as a state.

“The time has come for the international community, particularly European countries, to decide on the recognition of the Palestinian state,” Sánchez commented during the visit to the Rafah border crossing, El País reported.

“It would be worthwhile for us to do it together (in the EU), but if that does not happen, Spain will, of course, take its own decisions,” the head of the Spanish government stressed.

Palestine is currently recognised as a state by 136 countries, of which only 11 are EU members: Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden.

According to the vice-president of the government and leader of Sumar, Yolanda Díaz, Spain “should be an example for the whole of Europe” by recognising the Palestinian state.

Spain’s recognition of the Palestinian state “has been a firm commitment in the government agreement” and therefore called on Sánchez to move “from words to deeds”, she said on X.

Hamas thanks Barcelona, Israel responds harshly

In an unprecedented move, the Barcelona City Council, led by the socialist Jaume Collboni (PSC-PSOE), approved a declaration on Friday to sever the city council’s institutional relations with the Israeli government until there is a definitive ceasefire in Gaza and UN resolutions are respected.

The vote went ahead due to the votes of the PSC (the Catalan branch of the PSOE), the Catalan separatist party Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) in the regional government (Generalitat) and Catalunya en Comú, a left-wing pro-Catalan but not pro-independence party.

The measure includes a commitment to develop a clause to prevent the city council from signing contracts with operators whose activities do not respect international law and human rights.

“We appreciate the courageous stance of the Barcelona City Council, which decided to cut its ties with the occupying entity (Israel), rejecting the aggression and genocide committed (by Israel) against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip,” Hamas said in a statement.

But the Israeli embassy in Madrid responded with harsh words.

Diplomatic row between Madrid, Brussels and Tel Aviv

The words of Sánchez and Croo were not received well by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Shortly after the two European leaders voiced their criticism, Israel summoned the Spanish and Belgian ambassadors to Israel.

“Following the words of the Spanish Prime Minister and the Belgian Prime Minister in Rafah (Egypt), Foreign Minister Eli Cohen ordered that the ambassadors of both countries (Ana Sálomon Pérez and Jean-Luc Bodson) be summoned for a harsh reprimand,” said a statement issued by Tel Aviv on Friday.

The Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, responded that these accusations were “totally false and unacceptable” and announced that Spain would give a “timely” response. For now, Madrid has summoned Israel’s ambassador to Spain, Rodrica Radian-Gordon.

Belgium has also refused to accept Israel’s criticism.

De Croo on Saturday reiterated his Friday speech in Egypt on the Gaza conflict and announced that he would summon Israel’s ambassador to Belgium to clarify Tel Aviv’s accusations.

In a message posted on X on Saturday, De Croo urged Netanyahu to read the words he (the Belgian leader) spoke at the Rafah border crossing.

“This is what I stand for. No more civilian casualties,” the Belgian prime minister wrote, linking to the transcript of his speech.

(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.Euractiv.es)