“The conflict is not going to be resolved by itself, peace and security in the region will not be possible if we do not offer a horizon of hope to the Palestinian people,” said Pedro Sánchez in the institutional statement he made on the night of this Tuesday from the Moncloa palace, after participating by videoconference in the extraordinary emergency meeting of the European Council to analyze the conflict between Israel and Hamas, while confirming the alarming news of a bombing, whose authorship has not been confirmed, that would have caused hundreds of victims in a Gaza hospital.
The acting President of the Government has demanded that “the escalation of violence” in the region be stopped, betting on “the only way to resolve a conflict that has been entrenched for more than 70 years.” “This path is the two-state solution, the recognition of Palestine as a State,” he stressed. “Only through the two-state solution can violence be stopped and a conflict that causes so much suffering definitively resolved,” he insisted.
Sánchez highlighted that on November 27, a new meeting of the Union for the Mediterranean will be held in Barcelona, ??a forum in which “Israel and Palestine sit on equal terms.” “Both Europeans and Arabs will sit around the table, and it is a good opportunity to take advantage of it,” he defended, in order to relaunch a dialogue between Israel and Palestine.
The Spanish president has advocated for the unity and coordination of the European Union “in the face of a crisis of this significance.” “Our strength is born from union, and today, in the face of the enormous humanitarian crisis we are witnessing, the unity of Europe is the best contribution that we must make to the benefit of the stability of the international community,” he highlighted.
Spain, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, has worked very actively, he assured, in favor of the community club establishing a common position in this crisis. Which Sánchez has synthesized into four priorities. The first is “a resounding condemnation of the horrible terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas against Israel.” The second is “the demand for the immediate release, without conditions, of all hostages held by Hamas.” Including, he highlighted, the Spanish Iván Illarramendi. He has thus confirmed that he is kidnapped by the terrorist organization.
The third key to the common European position is “the recognition of Israel’s right to defend itself in strict respect for international law, and in particular, international humanitarian law.” Finally, Sánchez stressed that Israel “must guarantee, at all times, access for humanitarian aid to Gaza, and the protection of the civilian population in Gaza.”
The Spanish president has conveyed to all European leaders the urgency of addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, “and avoiding at all costs an escalation that causes the extension of this conflict to the region.” And, in this sense, he has announced that Spain will contribute more than 4 million additional euros to Palestine until the end of the year. In this way, in 2023, humanitarian aid and cooperation from Spain to the Palestinian people will rise to almost 21.5 million euros, 30% more than in 2022.
Before participating in the extraordinary meeting of the European Council, to analyze the situation in the Middle East, Sánchez had a telephone conversation with the president of Egypt, Abdelfattah Alsisi, one of the key actors for the stabilization of the region, whom he thanked for “his leadership in the search for a solution and that humanitarian aid can reach Gaza as soon as possible.”