Israel’s “absolutely disproportionate” military campaign in the besieged Gaza Strip is harmful to the stability of West Asia and the whole world, says Spain’s prime minister.
Speaking to the Spanish lawmakers on Wednesday, Pedro Sanchez said the campaign of death and destruction had “overturned decades of humanitarian law.”
“The international community cannot help the Palestinian state if it does not recognize its existence.”
Sanchez said the “just” decision to recognize the Palestinian statehood was “what’s demanded by the social majority.”
During a visit last week to Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Sanchez raised the subject of the Palestinian statehood. He signaled that Spain was to recognize Palestine as a nation by the end of June.
When in Doha, Sanchez told Qatar’s English language news website Al-Jazeera, “The international community, as a whole, we must recognize the full membership of Palestine in the UN system.”
“And, of course, bilaterally in the case of Spain, we are ready to support and recognize the State of Palestine because this momentum has to be different to the others that we witnessed over the past seven decades.”
On Tuesday, Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin also said his country will move to recognize a Palestinian state in the coming weeks.
The Spanish prime minister has long pushed the European Union to recognize Palestine as an independent state. He has also repeatedly called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the entry of humanitarian aid into the besieged Palestinian territory.
