Israel Recalls Envoy, Amidst Spat with Spain Prime Minister Over Gaza War
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has deepened a diplomatic row with Israel after he said he had “serious doubts that Israel is complying with international humanitarian law”.
His comments came days after he accused Israel of “indiscriminate killing of Palestinians” during its military operation in the Gaza Strip.
Israel has condemned his latest remarks as outrageous.
For the second time in a week, Spain’s ambassador to Israel was summoned for a rebuke.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen posted on X (formally Twitter) said Israel is acting and will continue to act, according to international law, and will continue the war until all the hostages are returned and Hamas is eliminated from Gaza.
In response to what he called the latest “baseless accusations” by the Spanish leader, Mr. Cohen said he had decided to recall Israel’s ambassador to Madrid, Rodica Radian-Gordon, for consultations.
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Mr. Sánchez won a new term as prime minister only two weeks ago but he has become one of the most outspoken critics among EU leaders of Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks on 7 October.
In an interview on Thursday with Spanish public television, Sanchez said the world had to tell Israel it needs to base its actions on international humanitarian law, and with the images, we are seeing and the growing number of people dying, especially boys and girls, I have serious doubts.
Israel has also recalled its ambassadors from Turkey and South Africa following remarks by those countries’ leaders over the war in Gaza.
It was not immediately clear when Israeli ambassador Rodica Radian-Gordon would leave Madrid for Jerusalem.
Israel is acting and will continue to act according to international law and we will continue with the war until all of the hostages are freed and until the elimination of Hamas in Gaza, Cohen wrote on X.
There is only one body responsible for the massacre on October 7 and for the situation in Gaza today, and that is the Hamas terror organization that carried out war crimes and crimes against humanity against Israeli citizens and residents of the Gaza Strip.
Sanchez sparked another angry response from Israel last Friday when he denounced the indiscriminate killings of innocent civilians in a speech in Egypt.
He was joined by Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo who also said Israel’s “operation needs to respect international humanitarian law.
