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Israel has again reacted to Spanish statements about the war in Gaza, and has now recalled its ambassador to Spain.
The new diplomatic row broke out when “scandalous” statements by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez reached the Israeli government.
In an interview on Spanish TVE, Sánchez said on Thursday that he had “serious doubts” that Israel is following international humanitarian law and that “what we are seeing in Gaza is not acceptable”.
That first prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to react and order Foreign Minister Eli Cohen to summon Spain’s ambassador for talks.
Cohen later wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Israel is acting and will continue to act according to international law and we will continue the war until all hostages are freed and until Hamas is destroyed.” He added that only terrorist-branded Hamas is responsible for the situation in Gaza.
The row comes after last week’s statements by Sánchez and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo, when they visited the Rafah border crossing. Sánchez said then that the “indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians” in the Palestinian territory is “totally unacceptable” and called for a permanent ceasefire.
Then Cohen summoned the countries’ ambassadors for a “sharp reprimand” and Netanyahu “strongly” condemned the statements.
In the past, Israel has also recalled its ambassadors in Turkey and South Africa after statements about the war by the countries’ leaders.