Spain backs sanctions against those undermining 2-state solution: Foreign minister

OVIEDO, Spain

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares on Thursday said that he backs imposing sanctions on anyone attempting to undermine the two-state solution.

“I am in favor of sanctioning those who seek to sabotage the two-state solution,” Albares told Spanish broadcaster TVE. “That’s why we unilaterally sanctioned West Bank settlers, and why it was Spain that brought this question to the table at the EU.”

He noted that Spain and Ireland had also jointly called for the EU to review its Association Agreement with Israel over alleged violations of international law.

Albares also reaffirmed Spain’s firm opposition to the displacement of the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza and the West Bank.

“We have strongly rejected any plan to displace Palestinian civilians, which is also against international law,” he said.

The comments came in response to remarks by Basque lawmaker Aitor Esteban in Parliament on Wednesday, where he described Israel’s plan to create an agency for removing Gazans as “a type of final solution” and “genocide.”

On the question of genocide, Albares said it is up to international legal bodies to make that determination.

“Spain has joined South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice precisely to help determine whether genocide is being committed,” he said.

“I am not avoiding the word – avoiding it would be not joining the South African case,” he added. “But a television set is not the place to make that determination.”

To date, more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip since October 2023.

Albares said Spain has recently contributed €5 million ($5.4 million) to the International Criminal Court to support investigations into Israel’s alleged war crimes.

He also said that despite the violence and grave humanitarian situation in Palestine, diplomacy must remain open with Israel.

“I would not break relations with Israel for the same reason we haven’t broken relations with Russia – because both need to be part of peaceful solutions,” he said.

“If we believe in the two-state solution, and I do, then the state of Israel must be part of it.”