The Spanish Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Albaresstressed this Sunday that “From the first moment Spain has condemned the indiscriminate killing of civilians perpetrated by Hamas” in Israel and has demanded the “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages”, but at the same time has insisted on “moving towards the recognition of a Palestinian State”.
Albares launched this message during his speech at the welcome dinner for the international delegations attending the 8th Regional Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), which is being held tomorrow in the Catalan capital.
The minister, who presided over the welcome dinner, held at the National Museum of Art of Catalonia (MNAC), has taken advantage of his speech to make clear the Spanish position in the face of this crisis, according to Foreign Affairs sources.
After emphasizing that continues to demand the release of all hostages captured by Hamasthe Minister of Foreign Affairs has also commented that “Spain has been very clear since the beginning of the crisis asking an immediate ceasefire, and demanding that Israel scrupulously respect international humanitarian law.”.
“The protection of all civilians, Palestinians and Israelis, is absolutely essential”indicated Albares, who has celebrated the agreement for the release of hostages and for the increase in humanitarian aid in Gaza and has demanded “the entry of humanitarian aid in sufficient quantity to alleviate unbearable suffering of the population of Gaza”.
Beyond this humanitarian emergency situation, Albares has defended: “We must realize the two-state solution. The objective is to move decisively towards the recognition of a Palestinian state to live in peace and security with the State of Israel.”
Along these lines, he recalled that Spain has proposed calling a meeting as soon as possible international peace conference with the parties in conflict, and pointed out that the proposal has been endorsed by both the European Council and the joint Summit of the League of Arab States and the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
Likewise, Albares has claimed in his speech the humanitarian aid provided by Spain to Palestine, which has tripled this yearas well as the significant increase in aid provided by the EU.
Albares’ message comes after the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, defended a few days ago that “The time has come for the international community and the European Union to once and for all recognize the State of Palestine”and that he advanced that Spain could “make its own decisions” if the EU does not take that step.
Sánchez also called on Israel to comply with its obligations regarding international rightand the Spanish position led Israel to interpret all of Sánchez’s statements as “support for terrorism”accusations that the Spanish Government has categorically denied.