Spain hosts European, Arab nations to pressure Israel on Gaza
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares speaking at a press conference at the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Madrid, Spain, on May 25. PHOTO: REUTERS
MADRID - The international community should look at sanctions against Israel to stop the war in Gaza, Spain's foreign minister said, as European and Arab nations gathered in Madrid on May 25 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 war.
A two-month aid blockade 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 in Madrid aim 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 Strip as humanity's 'open wound'.
'Silence in these moments is complicity in this massacre... that is why we are meeting,' said Mr Albares.
Representatives from European countries including France, Britain, Germany and Italy are joining 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, are also taking part, alongside Brazil.
Sanctions on the table
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.
May 25's meeting will also promote a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa (front row, fifth from right) and Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares (front row, sixth from left) pose for a group photo with other foreign ministers ahead of the meeting in Madrid, on May 25.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot spoke by video link with Arab counterparts on May 25 and would press 'the need for coordinated pressure' for a ceasefire, aid and the release of Hamas-held hostages, his office said.
Mr Barrot will also meet the Palestinian Authority's minister of state for foreign affairs, Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, during a trip to Yerevan next week, the French foreign ministry announced on May 25.
The diplomatic drive comes one month before a UN conference on the Israel-Palestinian conflicted presided over by France and Saudi Arabia.
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.
Madrid's attempt to rally a wider consensus on the war comes a year after it broke with some European allies by recognising a Palestinian state, infuriating Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
Hamas's Oct 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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