Brussels – Spain is back on the attack and is calling for international sanctions against Israel if Tel Aviv does not immediately stop its offensive in the Gaza Strip and allow humanitarian aid to reach the Palestinian population. The request comes directly from Madrid, where yesterday (May 25), a group of European and Arab countries met to seek a common approach and increase pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu to end the ongoing catastrophe and return to diplomacy.
Twenty states came to the Spanish capital to discuss a diplomatic way out of the devastating war the Jewish state is waging in the Palestinian enclave for over a year and a half. In addition to Spain, there were several EU countries (France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Slovenia) and European countries (Norway, Iceland, and the United Kingdom), plus the Arabs (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Turkey, joined by emissaries from the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation).
There has been a bloody resurgence of the Israeli military campaign in Gaza in recent weeks, while the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have been systematically blocking humanitarian aid for civilians for almost three months. When aid convoys manage to enter the Strip, they risk being attacked.
For the host, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares, what Israel is waging in Gaza is an “unjust, cruel, and inhuman war.” The Strip is an “open wound of humanity,” and the silence of the world is “complicit in this massacre,” he said. The trucks with aid for the civilian population must enter “massively, unconditionally, and without limits,” he added, specifying that “Israel should not control” the management of the entire process.
Brussels’ special envoy for the Gulf, Luigi Di Maio, who temporarily holds the Middle East peace process mandate, was also in Madrid, standing in for EU High Representative Kaja Kallas. According to the Commission spokesperson’s report, the former Italian minister reiterated “the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, and the full resumption of aid to Gaza, immediately.”
Albares said Spain will urge its partners to impose an arms sale embargo on Tel Aviv – half of the bombs being dropped on the Strip are European, according to former twelve-star diplomacy chief Josep Borrell – and push for “considering sanctions” since it is necessary to “consider everything to stop this war.” However, at the Berlaymont, they say the issue of sanctions is thorny because it requires unanimity of the 27 member states.
It is nothing new that Madrid takes intransigent positions towards Tel Aviv, especially since Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez branded Israel a “genocidal state” in a speech to the national parliament last week, opening a can of worms of controversy and criticism.
Albares also said that individual sanctions should not be ruled out against those who “intend to ruin the two-state solution forever.” The latter is one of the topics at the centre of the work of the so-called Madrid Group (also known as G5+). However, for now, it is essentially a pipe dream, given the marked opposition of the Israeli prime minister and his messianic ultra-right government partners to the creation of a Palestinian state entity.
Yesterday’s meeting also served as preparation for the high-level UN conference specifically dedicated to the two-state solution, scheduled for June 17 in New York and organized by France and Saudi Arabia. Albares hopes next month’s summit can pave the way for as many countries as possible to recognize Palestine as an independent nation.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa hopes US President Donald Trump can play a key role in unlocking this complex game. Washington’s efforts for a ceasefire in the Strip “are appreciated,” he said, hoping “a concrete, positive commitment from the US will help bring peace and stability to the region.”
At the UN, 147 countries out of 193 officially recognize the State of Palestine. Among them are 10 members of the EU, but on the Old Continent, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and the UK, plus Canada and the US from across the Atlantic, are still missing. Theoretically, the future Palestinian state should exercise its sovereignty over what are now the occupied territories: Gaza and the West Bank. However, on the ground, the situation appears impossible.
The Strip is the scene of the bloodiest military operation in recent history (at least 54,000 dead, according to Hamas-led Ministry of Health figures), and Israel said it was planning to occupy it militarily once the war is over, backtracking on the historic withdrawal from the enclave in 2005. As for the West Bank, illegal settlements of Israeli settlers continue to expand, as is the continued violence against the local community, which recently escalated into the assault on a diplomatic delegation visiting the Jenin refugee camp, which Kallas denounced as “unacceptable.”
Finally, Albares reiterated the Madrid executive’s demand to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement, although this is probably a battle against windmills. To pause it requires, again, the unanimity of the member states. However, the EU Council has recently said it was open to revising the agreement, highlighting Netanyahu’s growing political isolation.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
