 "Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arrives in the St. Damasus courtyard at the Vatican on his way to a private meeting with Pope Francis, on Friday. AP")
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday condemned IDF fire on UNIFIL posts in southern Lebanon and urged the international community to stop selling weapons to Israel.
According to a Times of Israel report, the IDF said earlier in the day that it was investigating reports of injuries to two peacekeepers after a UN source said Israeli forces had fired at an observation post.
The report came after two peacekeepers were injured in a similar incident a day ago, added the report.
Spain has deployed 650 peacekeepers in Lebanon and a Spanish general leads the UN mission.
“Let me at this point criticise and condemn the attacks that the Israeli armed forces are carrying out on the United Nations mission in Lebanon,” Times of Israel report quoted Sanchez as saying after meeting Pope Francis at the Vatican.
Sanchez, who has been critical of Israel throughout its war with Hamas in Gaza, says Spain stopped selling weapons to Israel in October 2023 and urges the rest of the world to do the same, claiming it will prevent further escalation in the region.
“I do believe that it is urgent that, in light of everything that is happening in the Middle East, the international community stops exporting weapons to the government of Israel,” he said.
“This is an appeal that I will make… to the entire international community,” he said, adding that it was important “not to contribute in one way or another to the escalation of violence and to the war and its expansion in Gaza, the West Bank or, in this case, to Lebanon.”
Impact Shorts
More ShortsHis comments reflect those of French President Emmanuel Macron, who said countries should stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza - prompting outrage from Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Meanwhile, UN chief Antonio Guterres also joined Sanchez in condemning Israeli forces firing on a peacekeeper base in Lebanon, saying it was breach of international humanitarian law.
“I condemn the fact that there was a shooting against a UN premise, wounding two peacekeepers, which is a violation of international humanitarian law,” AFP quoted the UN secretary general as saying at a summit in Laos.
With inputs from agencies