Israel to summon Spanish envoy after Madrid said Gaza war likely violates international law

Spain's Prime Minister and Socialist Workers' Party Pedro Sanchez gestures as he casts his ballot during Spain's general election in Madrid, July 23, 2023. (Emilio Morenatti/AP)
Spain's Prime Minister and Socialist Workers' Party Pedro Sanchez gestures as he casts his ballot during Spain's general election in Madrid, July 23, 2023. (Emilio Morenatti/AP)

Israel will summon Spain’s ambassador to Israel for a reprimand after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he has “serious doubt” Israel is complying with international humanitarian law.

“The footage we are seeing and the growing numbers of children dying, I have serious doubt [Israel] is complying with international humanitarian law,” he told Spanish state-owned broadcaster TVE today, according to a translation by Reuters. “What we are seeing in Gaza is not acceptable.”

The Prime Minister’s Office says in a statement that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “ordered Foreign Minister Eli Cohen” to summon the envoy after Sanchez’s “shameful remark on a day in which Hamas terrorists murdered Israelis in our capital Jerusalem.”

Israel also last week summoned Spain’s ambassador over criticisms Sanchez made of the Israeli offensive on Hamas during a visit to the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Friday.

Jerusalem accused Madrid of supporting terrorism, after Sanchez just days earlier toured an Israeli kibbutz ravaged by Hamas during the October 7 onslaught and saw footage of the atrocities committed that day.

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