Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced last week that “Spain and Palestine will hold their first bilateral summit this year to strengthen ties.’’
“Before the end of this year we are going to hold the first bilateral summit between Spain and Palestine, in which we hope to sign several collaboration agreements between the two states,” Sanchez said during the opening ceremony of the political year in Madrid on Sept. 5.
He also said that Spain will continue supporting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
Last May, in a coordinated move, Spain together with Norway and Ireland recognized a “‘State of Palestine within the 1967 lines, with eastern Jerusalem as its capital and including the Gaza Strip.
At the time, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares described the move as a “historic milestone.”
The minister argued that the move was an essential measure to guarantee Israel the security it “rightfully demands” and the only viable path to peace in the region.
“The Palestinian people have a right to a future of hope, just as the people of Israel have a right to a future of peace and security. And after so many decades of pain and confrontation, we know that there cannot be one without the other,” he said.
The coexistence of two states was the only solution to the conflict, he added.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz reacted by tagging Prime Minister Sánchez on X in a video with traditional Spanish music in the background alongside videos of Hamas’s brutality on Oct. 7. He wrote, “@sanchezcastejon, Hamas thanks you for your service.”
Katz said that the decision was “a gold medal to Hamas terrorists who kidnapped our daughters and burned infants.”
He also sent a letter to Spanish authorities forbidding their country’s consulate in Jerusalem from providing services to residents of the Palestinian Authority.
Originally published by the European Jewish Press.
