Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez urges other EU members to suspend the EU’s free trade agreement with Israel because of the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

Spain has been in talks with Ireland and other EU countries for months. The argument is that Israel is violating the free trade agreement’s human rights clause.

On Monday, Sánchez also made it clear that there will be no question of withdrawing the UN’s Unifil force from southern Lebanon, as demanded by Israel (NTB-Reuters)

The UNIFIL force consists of 9,500 soldiers. Indonesia, Italy, India, Nepal, Ghana and Malaysia have the most soldiers in the unit, which is led by a Spanish general.

There have been clashes between the Israel Defence Forces and Unifil recently. The IDF believes this is due to Unifil acting as human shields for the terrorist group Hezbollah.

Sánchez says Spain abides by the 2006 UN resolution that only Lebanese government forces and Unifil should be stationed in southern Lebanon.

As those in the know know, Israel withdrew its forces in 2006, adhering to the principles of UN Resolution 1701. But Hezbollah never left the area, and for 18 years has exploited this for a series of attacks against Israel.

Unifil’s soldiers have apparently not been able to detect major developments of Hezbollah positions, such as tunnels and surveillance stations, just a few dozen metres from their own bases.

Israel has therefore asked Unifil to leave southern Lebanon.

Pedro Sánchez is considered a social democrat and belongs to the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE). His government actually resigned in 2019, but continued as a caretaker ministry, and then by votes in the Chamber of Deputies in 2020 and 2023, the last time following an agreement with Catalan separatists on an amnesty for convicted politicians following the uprising in 2017.

At the same time, China will also get involved in the pressure against Israel, reports NTB-AFP.

– Humanitarian disasters in Gaza should not continue. Meeting violence with violence cannot at all resolve the legitimate concerns of either party, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a phone call with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Monday.

Wang also said that China hopes all parties act cautiously and avoid falling into a vicious circle as a result of the tensions between Israel and Iran. At the same time, he called for an immediate, complete and lasting ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of all hostages.