Spanish PM calls for global action to stop Israeli ‘invasion’
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez described Israel’s military offensives in Lebanon as an “invasion” on Wednesday, saying that the international community had to act.
“It is clear that there has been an invasion by a third country of a sovereign state such as Lebanon, and therefore the international community cannot remain indifferent,” the Socialist premier told parliament.
“We denounced (this situation) in Ukraine, we also denounce it in Gaza and now we are also denouncing the invasion of Lebanon,” he added.
After killing more than 42,000 people in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli regime is now focused on Hezbollah, the Lebanese ally of Hamas resistance group in the Gaza Strip.
Israel launched ground incursions into southern Lebanon on September 30 where some 10,000 peacekeepers are deployed under the command of a Spanish general.
According to official Lebanese figures, nearly 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since October 2023, including more than a thousand since the start of Israeli strikes in the south and east of its territory, as well as in the southern suburbs of Beirut, on September 23.
Sanchez is one of the most outspoken critics among European Union leaders of Israel’s response to the Hamas attack on the Israeli positions in the occupied territories on October 7, 2023.
He has angered Israel by saying he had “serious doubts that Israel is complying with international humanitarian law” in Gaza and under his watch Madrid in May recognized a Palestinian state.
Sanchez also expressed his regret at the “lack of agreement within the European Union” on the situation in West Asia.
‘Zionist terrorist organization’
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also on Wednesday decried Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza and Lebanon, calling it a “Zionist terrorist organization.”
Arguing that last year Israel made a choice between being a state and being a terrorist organization, Erdogan, addressing the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party’s meeting in Ankara, said since then it has been acting like a “terrorist organization.”
He said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his “murderous network are delusional and embarking on a very dangerous adventure.”
Erdogan also criticized western countries of defending cease-fire on stage, while continuing to provide Israel with weapons.
“History will never forgive those who applaud the monster responsible for the blood of tens of thousands of Palestinian children, women, civilians,” he said.