Latest news with #Pedro Sanchez
Arab News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Spain to airdrop 12 tonnes of food into Gaza Strip
MADRID: Spain said on Monday it would airdrop 12 tonnes of food into Gaza this week as the threat of famine stalks the Palestinian territory after 21 months of war. The operation is a rare example of a European nation joining Middle Eastern countries in sending aid by air. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, one of the most virulent critics of Israel's military offensive in Gaza, told a news conference the delivery would take place from Jordan on Friday using Spanish air force planes. 'The famine in Gaza is a shame for all of humanity and stopping it, therefore, is a moral imperative,' he said. The Defense Ministry said the 12 tonnes would be delivered in an operation similar to another carried out in March 2024, when Spain delivered 26 tonnes of food. The World Health Organization has warned malnutrition in the occupied territory has reached 'alarming levels' since Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza.
News24
4 days ago
- Business
- News24
Spanish PM backs EU-US trade deal 'without any enthusiasm'
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Monday he backed a European Union trade deal with the United States but "without any enthusiasm". US President Donald Trump and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen struck the deal on Sunday, fixing a baseline tariff of 15 percent on EU exports to the United States. That is lower than the blanket 30-percent tariffs Trump had threatened but significantly higher than the duties in place to date. "I value the constructive and negotiating attitude of the president of the European Commission. In any case, I support this trade agreement, but I do so without any enthusiasm," Sanchez told a news conference. The government has said it expects Trump's tariffs to have limited effect on Spain's economy, one of the developed world's most dynamic, given its smaller exposure to the US market. But it has warned that certain sectors like olive oil and wine are at higher risk as more of such exports head to the United States. The Spanish Federation of Food and Beverage Industries, which represents more than 18 000 exporting companies, said the tariff "puts an end to the balance of free trade". "An agreement is better than an open trade war, but we do not accept that exports of our products to the United States should be penalised," it added in a statement. The United States is Spain's sixth-largest export market for goods, according to the Bank of Spain. The country's trade with the United States is more focused on services compared with the rest of the eurozone, so the tariffs will have less impact, it added.
Jordan Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Jordan Times
Spain to airdrop 12 tonnes of food into famine-threatened Gaza
MADRID — Spain said on Monday it would airdrop 12 tonnes of food into Gaza this week as the threat of famine stalks the Palestinian territory after 21 months of war. The operation is a rare example of a European nation joining Middle Eastern countries in sending aid by air. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, one of the most virulent critics of Israel's military offensive in Gaza, told a news conference the delivery would take place from Jordan on Friday using Spanish air force planes. "The famine in Gaza is a shame for all of humanity and stopping it, therefore, is a moral imperative," he said. The defence ministry said the 12 tonnes would be delivered in an operation similar to another carried out in March 2024, when Spain delivered 26 tonnes of food to Gaza. Israel's war in Gaza for the past 21 months began in response to an unprecedented attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023. The devastated territory's more than two million inhabitants are suffering a humanitarian crisis. The World Health Organization has warned malnutrition in the occupied Palestinian territory has reached "alarming levels" since Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza on March 2. In late May, Israel began allowing a small trickle of aid to resume but the levels reaching the strip have been far below what aid groups say is needed. In general, humanitarian officials are deeply sceptical that airdrops can deliver enough food safely to tackle the hunger crisis. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu denies his government is to blame for the dire situation and accuses the United Nations of fabricating "pretexts and lies about Israel". On Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: "Conflict continues to spread hunger from Gaza to Sudan and beyond... We must never accept hunger as a weapon of war."
