Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday announced a permanent ban on the sale of weapons and ammunition to Israel as part of a package of measures aimed at “stopping the genocide” in Gaza.
In addition to the ban on sales from Spain, Sánchez said ships carrying fuel destined for Israel’s armed forces will be prohibited from docking in Spanish ports, while aircraft known to be transporting military material will be forbidden from entering the country’s airspace.
Sánchez said that while Israel has a right to exist and defend itself, it does not have the prerogative to “exterminate a defenseless people,” as he cited the international community’s failure to address the killing of tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza.
“Protecting your country and your society is one thing; bombing hospitals and starving children is another,” he added, stressing Spain’s responsibility to do whatever it can to halt “what the U.N. special rapporteur and many experts consider a genocide.”
The package of measures announced by Sánchez forbids people who have “directly participated in genocide, human rights violations and war crimes in the Gaza Strip” from entering Spain. The prime minister did not clarify how the participation would be assessed, or how those individuals would be identified.
The package also includes new restrictions on consular services offered to Spanish citizens residing in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, as well as a total ban on products imported from occupied territories.
Sánchez has long been one of the EU’s most vocal critics of Israel’s military assault on Gaza and last year recognized Palestinian statehood. But the left-wing Sumar party, junior members in Sánchez’s fragile minority government, has been pressuring the Socialist prime minister to take more aggressive action to support Gaza.
Sumar leader and Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz on Monday celebrated the adoption of the new measures, but urged Sánchez to go even further and withdraw Spain’s ambassador from Tel Aviv.
In response to Sánchez’s announcement, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar accused the Spanish government of being “antisemitic” and using a “hostile anti-Israeli line” to “distract attention from serious corruption scandals.”
Sa’ar also banned 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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