Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says his country will recognize the Palestinian statehood by July, reports say, days after he publicized his plan on social media.
Sanchez was cited by the state news agency EFE and newspapers El Pais and La Vanguardia on Tuesday.
In a post on X, the prime minister had said he would propose the plan to the Spanish parliament by the end of the current legislature – mid-2027.
“We have to think seriously about doing it in the first half of this year,” Sanchez said.
The Spanish prime minister made the remarks in the Jordanian capital, Amman, on the first day of visits to Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Sanchez said he believed there would soon be a “critical mass” within the European Union to push several member states to take the same stance.
Reports said Sanchez, one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s brutal campaign in Gaza, highlighted ongoing debates on the issue at the United Nations.
The Spanish leader made the comments at a time when Israel has come under mounting international pressure to halt hostilities in Gaza.
Since the start of the campaign in early October, the regime has killed more than 32,800 Palestinians and injured nearly 75,400 others.
On March 22, Spain, Ireland, Malta and Slovenia issued a joint statement on the sidelines of a European Union leaders’ summit in Brussels that were “ready to recognize Palestine” as soon as the conditions for the setting up of a state were met.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long ruled out Palestinian statehood. Since 1988, 139 out of 193 UN member states have recognized Palestinian statehood.
