Spain has renewed its call for the European Union to reconsider its trade agreement with Israel due to human rights concerns.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez stated on Monday that the EU should reassess its free trade agreement with Israel, citing alleged human rights violations by the Israeli government. Sanchez had previously urged the international community to halt arms sales to Israel.
Spain and Ireland formally requested the European Commission to review the trade agreement in February, prompted by the conflict in Gaza and concerns about potential breaches of international human rights law by Israel. Brussels has yet to respond to this request.
“The European Commission must definitively respond to the formal request made by two European countries to suspend the association agreement with Israel if it is found, as everything suggests, that human rights are being violated,” Sanchez declared at an event on Monday.
Furthermore, the Spanish leader condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demands for the withdrawal of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) from the conflict zone. “There is not going to be a withdrawal of UNIFIL,” Sanchez emphasized, criticizing Israeli attacks on peacekeepers.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, currently led by Spanish Lieutenant General Aroldo Lazaro Saenz, reported at least four Israeli attacks on its forces last week, coinciding with the Jewish state’s expansion of its ground operation. Spain has deployed over 600 peacekeepers to Lebanon. Following these attacks, Sanchez called for the international community to cease exporting weapons to the Israeli government.
In his speech on Monday, he urged other countries to join Spain in condemning Israel’s attacks on UNIFIL, asserting that Netanyahu “has one aim, that of imposing a new regional order by force.” Sanchez advocated for a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine but accused Netanyahu of seeking to “destroy” this objective.
Both Spain and Ireland officially recognized the Palestinian state earlier this year.
The international community has increasingly criticized the Israeli military following a year of conflict in Gaza, which has devastated the enclave and resulted in the deaths of over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities. At the beginning of the year, South Africa initiated a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, alleging that the Jewish state was committing “genocide” against Palestinians in the enclave.
Since Israel announced a second phase of the conflict and expanded military action into Lebanon, at least 37 UN-contributing countries have formally condemned Israeli attacks on UNIFIL.
More than 2,100 people have been killed in Lebanon during the hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.