Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday called on Israel to put an end to the "blind killing of Palestinians" in the Gaza Strip, in his harshest criticism of the Hebrew state since the outbreak of the war with Hamas.

The Socialist Prime Minister demanded "an immediate ceasefire by Israel in Gaza and strict adherence to international humanitarian law, which is now clearly not respected."

He stressed, "There is no doubt, we stand with Israel in its rejection and response to the terrorist attack that this country was subjected to in October," and "we demand the immediate release of the prisoners" who have been held by Hamas since the October 7 attack.

Sanchez added, "But with equal clarity, we reject the blind killing of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank," pledging that his new government would work "in Europe and Spain for the recognition of the Palestinian state."

In 2014, the Spanish Parliament almost unanimously adopted a non-binding resolution calling for recognition of a Palestinian state.

In 1991, Madrid hosted the Middle East Peace Conference, in which, for the first time since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, all Arab parties involved in a direct conflict with the Hebrew state participated.

Two years after this conference, the Oslo Accords were signed in Washington, which stipulates mutual recognition between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Source: Annahar Alaraby