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The warning came after Pedro Sánchez opened the door to the possibility that Spain could unilaterally recognise the Palestinian state even if the international community fails to do so.
ADVERTISEMENTIsrael’s foreign ministry has summoned the ambassadors of Spain and Belgium over statements made by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo in Egypt, which Israel considers “support for terrorism”.
“Following the words of the Spanish prime minister and the Belgian prime minister in Rafah, the foreign minister, Eli Cohen, ordered to summon the ambassadors of both countries for a harsh reprimanding conversation,” a foreign ministry statement said.
Quoted in the official note, Cohen said: “We condemn the false statements of the heads of government of Spain and Belgium, which support terrorism”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “strongly condemned” Sánchez and De Croo’s comments, saying they “did not attribute to Hamas full responsibility for the crimes against humanity it perpetrated: massacring Israeli citizens and using Palestinians as human shields”.
The ministry said it is acting in accordance with international law and fighting a “murderous terrorist organisation worse than the Islamic State”, which it accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
He also insisted that Israel will resume fighting “until the elimination” of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip following the four-day truce agreed with the group for the exchange of 50 Israeli hostages for 150 Palestinian prisoners.
“I firmly believe that we have to call on Israel to comply with its obligations under international law,” Sánchez told a press conference with De Croo at the Rafah crossing.
Sánchez expressed his hope that this temporary ceasefire would be the “prelude to pave the way for a permanent solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
The Spanish president also announced his country’s unilateral support for the recognition of the State of Palestine.
“The time has come for the international community and the European Union to finally recognise the State of Palestine. It is something that is worthwhile, that is important enough and that we in the EU must do together. But if this is not the case, Spain will take its own decisions”, he added.
For his part, De Croo, who, like Sánchez, called on Hamas to free all the hostages, declared that “political leaders must go beyond their own shadows and make decisions, even if they are difficult”.
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