Israel on Thursday said it was recalling its envoy to Madrid after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he doubted Israel respected the international humanitarian law in Gaza and repeated military action in the strip was not acceptable.
"The footage we are seeing and the growing numbers of people dying, especially boys and girls, I have serious doubt (Israel) is complying with international humanitarian law," Sanchez said in an interview with Spanish state-owned broadcaster TVE.
"What we are seeing in Gaza is not acceptable," he added.
"Because of the outrageous remarks by the Spanish prime minister, who again repeated baseless claims, I have decided to summon the Israeli ambassador in Spain for consultations in (west) Jerusalem," Foreign Minister Eli Cohen wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Sanchez's comments prompted the Israeli government to summon the Spanish ambassador for the second time in less than 10 days.
Diplomatic tensions between Israel and Spain have soared following repeated remarks by Sanchez criticizing Israel's military campaign in Gaza that followed Palestinian resistance group Hamas' attack on Oct. 7.
Cohen's remarks came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's instruction to the Foreign Ministry to summon the Spanish ambassador for a "rebuke session."
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed Minister of Foreign Affairs Eli Cohen to summon the Spanish Ambassador to Israel for a reprimand following the shameful comments by the Spanish Prime Minister," his office said without specifying if the summons had taken place or a date.
Sanchez on Thursday said the world had to tell Israel "it needs to base its actions on international humanitarian law."
Israel has also recalled its ambassadors from Türkiye and South Africa following remarks by those countries' leaders over its military campaign in Gaza, which has killed over 15,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
It was not immediately clear when Israeli Ambassador Rodica Radian-Gordon would leave Madrid for west Jerusalem.
Last week, similar comments by Sanchez and his Belgian counterpart Alexander De Croo in Egypt's Rafah crossing prompted Israel to summon the ambassadors of both countries over remarks that it claimed repeated "false claims" and accused the two leaders of supporting "terrorism."
Sanchez denounced the "indiscriminate killings of innocent civilians," while Belgium's De Croo said Israel's "operation needs to respect international humanitarian law."
A Spanish government source said Israel has called in the Spanish ambassador several times since Oct. 7.
Despite last week's diplomatic spat, though, Sanchez, who is pushing for a peace conference, said that the relationship between Israel and Spain was "correct" and "friendly countries also have to say things to each other."
'EU should recognize Palestinian state'
Sanchez also insisted that European countries should discuss the recognition of the State of Palestine, which he says would be in Europe's interests and would boost its moral standing.
"What we are witnessing in Gaza is unacceptable. And what is going to happen in Gaza after the spiral of violence ends is not going to be acceptable either," he said.
Recognizing Palestine as a step toward peace would also be in the EU's geopolitical interests, he noted.
Sanchez said he has heard from representatives of Muslim nations that Western solidarity rings hollow and peace conferences do not work because promises are not complied with.
"I think they are right. Because all these years, we've watched as Israel has systematically been occupying Palestinian territory in the West Bank. And now we are seeing what's happening in Gaza," said the prime minister.
He expressed his concern that without peace, the conflict could spill into other nations like Lebanon, Egypt or Jordan and destabilize the Mediterranean region.
"Do we really want to have two open fronts? One in the Middle East and one in Ukraine? Politics and diplomacy should help prevent that, and that is what the Spanish government defends," Sanchez said.
During his Middle East tour last week, Sanchez announced that Spain would unilaterally recognize Palestine if other member states or the EU itself failed to do so.
In the EU, nine of the 27 countries have already recognized the State of Palestine. In 2014, Sweden became the first EU member state to unilaterally do so, while other nations like Malta and some from the former Eastern bloc had already recognized Palestine before joining the EU.
Of the 193 U.N. member states, 139 had recognized the State of Palestine as of June 2023. Sanchez emphasized that "mainly Western states" are the ones who have failed to do so, including the EU and the U.S.