“Spain considers the death of civilians in Gaza unbearable”, reaffirmed Pedro Sánchez to Israeli minister and former general Benny Gantz, a member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet, during the telephone conversation that the two had yesterday.
After the diplomatic crisis reactivated between Spain and Israel the day before, after the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hebrew State, Eli Cohen, called the Israeli ambassador in Madrid, Rodica Radian-Gordon, to consultations in Jerusalem, as a sign of protest for Sánchez’s statements in which he questioned compliance with international humanitarian law for his military offensive in Gaza, the Prime Minister reiterated his position: “Spain considers the death of civilians in Gaza unbearable and Israel must comply with international humanitarian law”.
This is what Sánchez communicated to Gantz, during the talk they held at the initiative of the Israeli minister, within the round of calls he has been making in recent weeks to other international leaders, such as the French Emmanuel Macron or the Canadian Justin Trudeau.
Sánchez was in Dubai, where he participated in the climate summit, although he did not agree with the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, who was also present at this meeting. The president of the Spanish Government, who for now has not ordered diplomatic reciprocity to call the Spanish ambassador, Ana Salomón, for consultations in Madrid, reiterated to Gantz that “Israel is a partner and a friend of Spain”. “Once again, I have condemned the terrorist attacks by Hamas on October 7. Spain wishes for the immediate release of all the hostages”, stressed the Spanish president.
“Israel has the right to defend itself against this terrorist attack,” he insisted. But with the same conviction, he criticized the death of civilians in Gaza, many of them children, and called on Israel to respect international humanitarian law.
Gantz, for his part, also gave an account of his conversation with Sánchez, and noted that he had “brought him up to date on the war and regional events”. “And I emphasized that, for the sake of Israel’s security, the sense of security of Israeli civilians and the restoration of regional stability, the terrorist group Hamas must be dismantled in Gaza,” he said.
The minister assured Sánchez, however, that Israel “gives great importance to avoiding civilian casualties as much as possible”. But he warned: “Hamas continues to perpetrate horrific crimes against humanity, such as using children and women as human shields for its terrorist activities.”
