Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez together with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo and Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah el-Sisi held a press conference in front of the Rafah border crossing and announced Spain’s recognition of Palestine’s independence.
Pedro Sanchez’s first international trip after winning the mandate of Prime Minister of Spain for the third time was to the Middle East. Sanchez has previously criticized Israel most harshly for bombing civilians in Gaza, and sent a message from Egypt that opened the door for Spain to recognize Palestine, even if the entire European Union does not.
“The moment has come for the international community, and especially the EU, to make a decision on the recognition of the Palestinian state. It would be worthwhile, it would be important, for many EU members to do it together. But if that doesn’t happen, of course Spain will make its own decisions,” he said. in a performance in Rafah, the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
Before Sanchez’s trip to Israel, Spanish media reported that Sanchez will inform Netanyahu of the Spanish government’s intention to recognize Palestine after the end of the war at a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In Cairo, Sanchez promised more Spanish aid to displaced Palestinians.
Sanchez announced the delivery of four tons of medical supplies to Egyptian hospitals treating Gaza refugees and guaranteed that Spain would continue to increase humanitarian aid to the Strip, which has already tripled to 50 million euros.
In a press conference with Netanyahu, Sanchez made it clear that the number of Palestinian deaths was intolerable and asked him to stop the humanitarian disaster. He also said that based on Spain’s experience with ETA, “terrorism cannot be eradicated solely by force.”
Sanchez himself, in an informal conversation on the plane with the journalists who accompanied him on the trip, admitted that the meeting between him and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo with Netanyahu was very difficult.
Not only because of the gap between the European and Israeli positions, which was very visible, but also because a 20-minute video was projected so that the two European leaders could see the horrors of Hamas’s attacks, Klix.ba reports.
