Spain’s foreign minister on Sunday called for sanctions against Israel to force an end to the war against Hamas in Gaza, ahead of a high-level summit in Madrid bringing together European and Arab nations critical of Israel.
“The international community must consider sanctions, we must do everything, consider everything to stop this war,” José Manuel Albares told France Info, as Spain prepared to host 20 countries and major international bodies. The summit aims to push for an immediate ceasefire and revive the two-state solution.
“Humanitarian aid must enter Gaza massively, unimpeded, neutrally, so that it is not Israel who decides who can eat and who cannot,” Albares said. He claimed that the war “no longer has any goal.”
On May 14, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called Israel a “genocidal state.” He has imposed an arms embargo on Israel and recognized a Palestinian state.
On May 16, Jerusalem escalated its military campaign to dismantle Hamas in Gaza, which followed the Hamas-led assault on Oct. 7, 2023, in which terrorists murdered some 1,200 people and abducted another 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in captivity in the Strip, including 34 confirmed dead by Israel. Terrorists also hold the body of IDF Lt. Hadar Goldin, who was killed in action in Rafah, the southern Gaza Strip, on Aug. 1, 2014.
Israel said it had killed more than 20,000 terrorists in Gaza. Aid agencies warn of shortages in food, water and medicine, despite limited recent deliveries.
The Madrid conference will include representatives from the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and nations such as Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Norway and Ireland.
