Israel in diplomatic dispute with Spain and Belgium over Gaza bombardment

https://ft.com/content/d2d6-4eba--ba49-0a5e80b6af6b

Israel has become locked in a diplomatic dispute with Spain and Belgium after it accused the EU countries of supporting terrorism in response to their prime ministers’ criticism of its bombardment of Gaza.

The Israeli and Spanish foreign ministers exchanged harsh words and summoned each other’s ambassadors for reprimands as the dispute spiralled on Friday while Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez and his Belgian counterpart Alexander De Croo continued a visit to the Middle East.

Speaking in Jerusalem alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, Sánchez had said the number of civilians killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza was “unbearable”.

And on Friday on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing into Gaza, Spain’s leader said Israel was not acting within the limits of humanitarian law. “The indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians, including thousands of boys and girls, [is] completely unacceptable,” he said.