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Netanyahu response to aid worker deaths ‘insufficient’: Spain’s PM

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Wednesday the response of his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to an air strike that killed seven aid workers was "insufficient" and "unacceptable".

Published: 4 April 2024 09:24 CEST
Netanyahu response to aid worker deaths 'insufficient': Spain's PM
Relatives and friends mourn by the body of Saif Abu Taha, a staff member of the US-based aid group World Central Kitchen who was killed as Israeli strikes hit a convoy of the NGO delivering food aid in Gaza a day earlier, during his funeral in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on April 2, 2024, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP)

“We are waiting for a much more detailed clarification of what the causes have been, bearing in mind that the Israeli government knew about the actions and the itinerary of this NGO on the ground in Gaza,” Sánchez told a Doha news conference at the end of a three-nation tour of the Middle East.

“It seems to me absolutely unacceptable, insufficient,” he added when asked about Netanyahu’s statements about the tragedy.

US-based food aid organisation World Central Kitchen – founded by Spanish-American celebrity chef José Andrés — said it was pausing its operations in Gaza after the “targeted Israeli strike” on Monday killed Australian, British, Palestinian, Polish and US-Canadian staff.

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Netanyahu later admitted Israel’s military had “unintentionally” killed them in an air strike.

He said it was a “tragic case” that would be investigated “right to the end” but stopped short of apologising for the deaths.

The Israeli army said Tuesday it would hold an investigation into the air strike and pledged to “share our findings transparently”.

Sánchez has been one of the most critical voices in Europe over the way Israel has conducted its military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas’s October 7th attacks.

He has repeatedly said the only solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the recognition of two states, Israel and Palestine.

Sánchez said Wednesday that Spain would recognise Palestinian statehood “as soon as possible, when the conditions are right and in such a way that this decision will have the most positive impact possible”.

While he did not give a timeline, Spanish media reported Tuesday that he told journalists accompanying him on his Middle East trip that he wants to take this step during the first half of this year.

At the same time, Sánchez called for “the recognition of Israel by its Arab neighbours”, saying “mutual recognition is the key to achieving a lasting solution to this conflict”.

Sánchez began his Middle East tour in Jordan on Monday, before travelling to Saudi Arabia then Qatar.

Both Saudi Arabia and Qatar do not have official ties with Israel.

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POLITICS

Socialist win in Catalan election ‘ends decade of division’: Spain’s PM

Spain's leader Pedro Sánchez said Thursday his Socialist party's success in the Catalan elections ended a "decade of division" in the wealthy northeastern region, long governed by separatists.

Published: 16 May 2024 17:16 CEST
Socialist win in Catalan election 'ends decade of division': Spain's PM

“The Catalan Socialist party’s victory… ends a decade of division and resentment within Catalan society and will doubtlessly open a new era of understanding and coexistence,” the prime minister said in his first remarks since Sunday’s election.

The Socialists coming top in the vote was a blow for the Catalan separatist parties which lost their governing majority in the region’s parliament that they have dominated for the past decade.

Since becoming premier some nine months after the botched independence bid of October 2017, Sánchez has adopted a policy of “reengagement” with the wealthy northeastern region to “heal the wounds” opened by the crisis.

In 2021, he pardoned the separatists jailed over the secession bid and has pushed through an amnesty bill for those still wanted by the justice system in exchange for key separatist backing that let him secure a new term in office.

That bill is due to become law in the coming weeks which will allow Carles Puigdemont – the Catalan leader who led the secession bid then fled Spain to avoid prosecution – to finally return home.

Despite Sunday’s result, in which the separatist parties secured 59 of the parliament’s 135 seats, Puigdemont – whose hardline JxCat party came second – said he would seek to build a ruling coalition.

READ MORE: Catalan separatist kingpin refuses to give up on ruling despite ‘pro-Spain win’

“We have an opportunity and we will make the most of it,” he said in the southern French town of Perpignan.

ERC, JxCat’s more moderate separatist rival, lost a lot of support in Sunday’s vote, triggering a crisis within the party.

Even so, it is likely to play a key role in Puigdemont’s coalition-building efforts as well as those of the Catalan Socialists, who won with 42 seats — also a long way from the 68 mandates required to rule.

Analysts say the most likely option would see the Socialists allying with the radical left party Comuns Sumar, which won six seats, and ERC, which won 20, giving it exactly 68.

READ ALSO: Which Catalans want independence from Spain?

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