Spain PM accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza as 35 more killed
GAZA CITY: Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday became the most prominent European leader to describe the situation in Gaza as a "genocide", as rescuers in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory said Israeli forces killed 35 people.
After more than 20 months of devastating conflict, rights groups say Gaza's population of more than two million face famine-like conditions.
Israel began allowing supplies to trickle in at the end of May following a blockade of more than two months, but distribution has been marred by chaotic scenes and near-daily reports of Israeli forces firing on those waiting to pick up rations.
Israel meanwhile is pressing its bombardment of the Palestinian territory, in a military offensive it says is aimed at defeating Hamas – whose unprecedented October 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war.
Spain's Sanchez on Thursday said Gaza was in a "catastrophic situation of genocide" and urged the European Union to immediately suspend its cooperation deal with Israel.
The comments represent the strongest condemnation to date by Sanchez, an outspoken critic of Israel's offensive who is one of the first European leaders, and the most senior, to use the term "genocide" to describe the situation in Gaza.
Speaking ahead of an EU summit in Brussels, Sanchez mentioned a recent human rights report by the EU's diplomatic service which found "indications" that Israel was breaching its human rights obligations under the cooperation deal, which forms the basis for trade ties.
The text cited Israel's blockade of humanitarian aid for the Palestinian territory, the high number of civilian casualties, attacks on journalists and the massive displacement and destruction caused by the war.
On the ground in Gaza, the spokesman for Gaza's civil defence agency, Mahmud Bassal, told AFP that Israeli forces killed 35 more people on Thursday in various locations across the territory, including four who were waiting to collect aid.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment, saying it required further information.
Israel began its offensive Gaza to destroy Hamas and rescue hostages seized by fighters during the Oct 7, 2023 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel's military campaign has killed at least 56,259 people, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. The United Nations considers its figures reliable.
AFP footage from a hospital in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah on Wednesday showed Palestinians sobbing over bloodied body bags containing their loved ones who had been killed in an Israeli strike.
"They (killed) the father, mother and brothers, only two girls survived. One of them is a baby girl aged one year and two months and the other one is five years old," one mourner said.
Beyond daily bombardment, Gaza's health ministry says that since late May, nearly 550 people have been killed near aid centres while seeking scarce supplies.
The United Nations has condemned the "weaponisation of food" in Gaza, and slammed a US- and Israeli-backed body that has largely replaced established humanitarian organisations there.
The privately run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) was brought into the Palestinian territory at the end of May, but its operations have been marred by chaotic scenes, deaths and neutrality concerns.
The GHF has denied that deadly incidents have occurred in the immediate vicinity of its aid points.
Israeli restrictions on media in the Gaza Strip and difficulties in accessing some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers and authorities in the Palestinian territory.
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that progress was being made to end the Israel-Hamas war, telling reporters: "I think great progress is being made on Gaza."
He linked his optimism about imminent "very good news" to a ceasefire agreed on Tuesday between Israel and Hamas's backer Iran to end their 12-day war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces growing calls from opposition politicians, relatives of hostages being held in Gaza and even members of his ruling coalition to bring an end to the fighting.
Key mediator Qatar announced Tuesday that it would launch a new push for a ceasefire.
Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP on Wednesday that talks with mediators had "intensified" but said the group had "not yet received any new proposals" to end the war.
The Israeli government declined to comment on any new ceasefire talks beyond saying that efforts to return Israeli hostages in Gaza were ongoing "on the battlefield and via negotiations."
Of the 251 hostages seized by Palestinian fighters during the Hamas attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.- AFP
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