Spain’s Sanchez visits Gaza Strip border, decries ‘indiscriminate’ killing of Palestinians
- During a trip to the Rafah border crossing with his Belgian counterpart De Croo, Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez also called for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza
- Israel said the remarks gave ‘terrorism a boost’ and summoned the envoys of Spain and Belgium to explain the comments
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday denounced on a visit to the Gaza Strip border what he called the indiscriminate killing of Palestinians, drawing an angry response from Israel which said the remarks gave terrorism a boost.
While at the Egyptian-controlled Rafah crossing with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Sanchez also called for a lasting humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza “to reverse the catastrophic situation that the people of the Strip are going through.”
“The indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians, including thousands of boys and girls, are completely unacceptable,” he said.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in a statement accused Sanchez and De Croo of “false claims” that “give terrorism a boost” and said he had summoned the ambassadors of Spain and Belgium to explain the comments.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also weighed in, saying the two European leaders had failed to spotlight what he called crimes against humanity committed by Palestinian militants of Hamas.
Hamas fighters burst into Israel from Gaza on October 7 in an attack Israel says killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Israel has bombarded Gaza and sent in troops and tanks in retaliation, killing about 14,000 Gazans, around 40 per cent of them children, according to Palestinian health authorities.