Spain gathers EU, Arab states to push Gaza ceasefire, Israel sanctions
MADRID, May 26 — The international community should look at sanctions against Israel to stop the Gaza war, Spain's foreign minister said yesterday, as European and Arab nations gathered in Madrid to urge an end to its offensive.
Some of Israel's long-standing allies have added their voices to growing international pressure after it expanded military operations against Gaza's Hamas rulers, whose 2023 attack on Israel sparked the devastating conflict.
An aid blockade lasting almost three months has worsened shortages of food, water, fuel and medicine in the Palestinian territory, stoking fears of famine.
Aid organisations say the trickle of supplies Israel has recently allowed to enter falls far short of needs.
The talks aimed to stop Israel's 'inhumane' and 'senseless' war in Gaza, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told reporters before the meeting opened.
Humanitarian aid must enter Gaza 'massively, without conditions and without limits, and not controlled by Israel,' he added, describing the territory as humanity's 'open wound'.
Representatives from European countries including France, Britain, Germany and Italy joined envoys from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Morocco, the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
Norway, Iceland, Ireland and Slovenia, who like Spain have already recognised a Palestinian state, also took part, alongside Brazil.
After the European Union decided this week to review its cooperation deal with Israel, Albares told reporters Spain would request its 'immediate suspension'.
Spain would also urge partners to impose an arms embargo on Israel and 'not rule out any' individual sanctions against those 'who want to ruin the two-state solution forever,' he added.
'Time for action'
Yesterday's meeting also promoted a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said he wanted to 'move as fast as possible to a peace where Palestine and Israel can coexist and bring stability and security for the whole region'.
Albares told Cadena SER radio after the summit that the event made progress by including more EU powers like France, Germany and Italy in the format.
They would 'never give up on peace in the Middle East,' he said.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot will meet the Palestinian Authority's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, during a trip to Yerevan this next week, his office announced yesterday.
Barrot spoke with a number of Arab foreign ministers yesterday to discuss efforts 'to restore a diplomatic perspective for a political solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict,' his office said.
The diplomatic drive comes one month before a UN conference on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict chaired by France and Saudi Arabia in New York.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said his country will back draft resolutions at the United Nations aimed at ramping up aid access to Gaza and holding Israel to account over its international humanitarian obligations.
Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mainly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Palestinian militants also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed almost 54,000 people, mostly civilians, according to Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry. — AFP
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