Spain, Israel spar after Madrid moves 'to stop Gaza genocide'

MADRID (AFP) — Spain on Monday recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv after Israel’s top diplomat accused premier Pedro Sanchez of antisemitism and barred two government ministers from entry, foreign ministry sources said.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares took the decision “in the face of the slanderous accusations against Spain and the unacceptable measures against two members of our country’s government,” a foreign ministry source said.

The spat marks a new low in relations over the devastating Israeli offensive in the Palestinian territory, launched after an unprecedented Hamas attack in Israel in 2023.

Sanchez, one of the most virulent critics of Israel’s military campaign, announced nine measures aimed to “stop the genocide in Gaza, pursue its perpetrators and support the Palestinian population.”

The Socialist prime minister said his government would approve a decree to “consolidate in law” a ban on military equipment sales or purchases with Israel, a measure it had applied since the start of the conflict.

Boats carrying fuel destined for the Israeli military will be barred from Spanish ports and Spain will act to reduce the transport of military equipment to Israel by air, Sanchez said in a televised address.

“All those people participating directly in the genocide, the violation of human rights and war crimes in the Gaza Strip” will be banned from entering Spanish territory, he added.

Spain will also ban the importation of products from “illegal settlements” in the occupied Palestinian territories with the aim of stopping “the forced displacement of the Palestinian population” and keeping alive the two-state solution, Sanchez continued.

Consular services for Spanish citizens residing in those settlements will be limited “to the legally obligatory minimum assistance,” he said.

Sanchez also announced new collaboration projects in agriculture, food security and medical aid to support the Palestinian Authority and additional humanitarian funds for Palestinians.

‘Divert attention’

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar lashed out at Spain after the announcement, accusing Sanchez on X of trying “to divert attention from serious corruption scandals through a continuous anti-Israel and antisemitic campaign.”

Saar announced that Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz and Youth Minister Sira Rego, both members of the Socialists’ far-left junior coalition partner Sumar, would be banned from entering Israel.

“Today we put a red line here, demonstrating we will not take it from them anymore,” Saar added during a news conference in Budapest with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto.

The Spanish foreign ministry responded that it “strongly rejects the false and slanderous accusations of antisemitism” as well as the entry bans on Diaz and Rego.

“Spain will not be intimidated in its defense of peace, international law and human rights,” it added in a statement.

Diaz said on social network Bluesky that it was a cause for “pride that a state that perpetrates a genocide denies us entry,” calling for the withdrawal of the Spanish ambassador from Israel.

Sanchez is the most senior European leader to refer to the conflict as a “genocide.”

His government broke with European Union allies last year by recognizing a Palestinian state, infuriating Israel.

The Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

Palestinian militants also seized 251 hostages on that day, with the Israeli military saying 47 remain in Gaza, including 25 believed to be dead.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 64,522 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.

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By IMRAN MARASHLI Agence France-Presse