Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced that Madrid would unilaterally recognize an independent Palestinian state, even if such a decision contradicts the opinion of the European Union, as he said the recent hostage deal was not enough and a permanent cease-fire was necessary.
"I think that the moment has come for the international community, especially for the European Union and its member states, to recognize the state of Palestine," Sanchez told media during a news conference on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing on Friday.
Sanchez said that ideally, the recognition would come all at once with at least several member states participating.
"But if this is not the case, of course, Spain will take its own decisions," said the newly re-elected Spanish premier, who previously vowed that recognizing the state of Palestine was a priority for his upcoming term.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo joined Sanchez on his tour of Israel, Palestine and Egypt.
He said the first priority was freeing the hostages held by Hamas and helping alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
"Then we will need to sit around the table and discuss the subject," said De Croo.
Sanchez also said that the current pause in Gaza was not enough and that a permanent cease-fire was needed.
Meanwhile, the Barcelona city council on Friday approved a declaration suspending relations with Israel until there is a permanent cease-fire in Gaza and the country "respects the basic rights of the Palestinian people."
This is not the first time Barcelona has cut ties with Israel.
In February 2023, then-Mayor Ada Colau suspended the city's relationship with Israel and the twin city agreement with Tel Aviv.
However, during elections this summer, Colau lost her position to the socialist candidate Jaume Collboni. In September, he restored diplomatic ties with Israel and the twin city agreement with Tel Aviv.
Friday's declaration was put forward by Colau's far-left Barcelona en Comun party and backed by Collboni's Socialist Party and the left-wing separatist party ERC.
The declaration condemns all attacks on the civilian population, both by Hamas and Israel, as well as "any collective punishment, forced displacement, systematic destruction of homes and civil infrastructure as well as the blockade of energy, water, food and medical supplies to the population of the Gaza Strip."
According to Barcelona's approved statement, the main obstacles to long-lasting peace are "the occupation and colonization of Palestinian territories" and the "denial of rights" to the people.
Other high-profile members of Spain's national government, including former minister and current MP Ione Belarra, have called for the country to cut ties with Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
That is not the position of the government. On the contrary, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez traveled to Israel and Palestine to meet with his local counterparts on Thursday.
There, he was critical of the Israeli response to the Oct. 7 attacks, calling the situation in Gaza a "humanitarian catastrophe," urging Israel to "respect civilian lives at all costs," and saying the number of civilian deaths was unacceptable. Over 14,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed in incessant Israeli attacks, which also destroyed civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, refugee camps and homes, in grave violation of international law.
Belarra said Sanchez's trip was "whitewashing" Netanyahu and said he should instead be in Brussels lobbying for the EU to apply sanctions against Israel in the same way the bloc did to Russia after it attacked Ukraine.
Sanchez said his mission was to lay the groundwork for peace talks.
Sanchez also announced that Madrid would send around four tons of humanitarian aid to Egypt to help displaced Palestinians in Gaza.
After their meeting, el-Sissi said in a news conference that Egypt is delivering most of the humanitarian aid to Palestinians and that the international community must offer more aid to the struggling population.
"We will not close Rafah," he insisted, referring to the sole entry to the besieged Gaza Strip.
De Croo also called on Israel to open more entrances to Gaza "because innocent civilians are suffering and they need help."
The three leaders said they welcomed the humanitarian pause in Gaza, which started Friday morning and urged Israel to make it permanent.
They also discussed what long-term peace could look like in Israel and Palestine, as much of Sanchez's visit is focusing on establishing momentum for an international peace conference leading to a two-state solution.
The Egyptian leader reminded his European counterparts that peace talks have failed for 30 years, so "we need to be realistic."
He suggested that the international community needs to take the reins.
"We need international recognition of the Palestinian state, and the U.N. needs to intervene. Going in this direction would reflect the seriousness of the international community to achieve peace in our region," he said, explaining his idea for a demilitarized Palestinian state with the borders of 1967, potentially with the presence of international forces.
El-Sissi also detailed how the leaders spoke about establishing safe zones across the Gaza Strip. "As many as 50,000 homes were destroyed and 100,000 were damaged," he said, adding that U.S. President Joe Biden even backed his position on the need to avoid the forced displacement of Palestinians.
El-Sissi thanked the Spanish and Belgian leaders for their "positive" positions on Gaza.
Spain currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council. In January, that position will be handed over to Belgium.
