“Protecting your country and your society is one thing; bombing hospitals and starving children is another,” he noted, emphasizing Spain’s obligation to do all it can to stop “what the U.N. special rapporteur and many experts consider a genocide.”
The measures introduced by Sánchez prohibit individuals who have “directly participated in genocide, human rights violations, and war crimes in the Gaza Strip” from entering Spain. The prime minister did not specify how participation would be determined or how such individuals would be identified.
This package also features new limitations on consular services available to Spanish citizens living in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, along with a complete ban on products from occupied territories.
Sánchez has frequently been one of the EU’s most outspoken critics of Israel’s military actions in Gaza and last year acknowledged Palestinian statehood. However, the left-wing Sumar party, which is part of Sánchez’s delicate minority government, has been urging the Socialist prime minister for more assertive measures to aid Gaza.
Sumar leader and Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz expressed approval of the new actions on Monday, yet encouraged Sánchez to take it a step further by withdrawing Spain’s ambassador from Tel Aviv.
In reaction to Sánchez’s announcement, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar criticized the Spanish government for being “anti-Semitic” and adopting a “hostile anti-Israeli stance” to “divert attention from serious corruption scandals.”
Sa’ar also prohibited Díaz and Youth Minister Cira Rego — the daughter of a Palestinian refugee — from entering Israel, citing their “support for terrorism and violence against Israelis.”
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