European Union countries in hot water with Israel over calls to recognise Palestine

The EU has been dragged into a diplomatic row between Spain, Belgium and Israel over the war in Gaza.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his Belgian counterpart Alexander De Croo were blunt in their condemnation of Israel‘s bombardment of Gaza.

Speaking on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing into Gaza, Mr Sanchez said Israel was breaching humanitarian law.

This prompted Israel to summon the Spanish and Belgian ambassadors for a “harsh rebuke”.

Israel also complained that “the Prime Ministers of Spain and Belgium support terrorism”.

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The row escalated last night, when Spain’s foreign minister José Manuel Albares, in turn, condemned Israel’s “false, misplaced and unacceptable accusations”.

It also threatens to drag in other EU countries, as on Friday Mr Sanchez called for the EU to formally recognise the state of Palestine.

Spain currently holds the six-month presidency of the Council of the EU, with Belgium taking over the same role on January 1.

Mr Sanchez suggested that if the EU does not recognise Palestine, Spain could act alone, saying: “If this is not the case, Spain will take their own decisions.”

During his visit to the region this week, Mr Sanchez told Israeli leaders in face-to-face meetings to rethink its offensive in Gaza.

He said the number of dead Palestinians is “truly unbearable”, and that the response to Hamas’s terrorist attacks last month cannot include “the deaths of innocent civilians, including thousands of children”.

Mr Sanchez added: “We cannot accept that a society is destroyed in the way it is being destroyed.”

The Spanish leader suggested holding an international peace conference with the parties as soon as possible, claiming that the European Union, Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation had all endorsed the idea.

Eli Cohen, Israel’s foreign minister, condemned these claims, saying: “Israel is acting in accordance to international law and is fighting a murderous terrorist organisation worse than Isis, that is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

In less than two months, more than twice as many women and children have been killed in Gaza than in Ukraine after two years of war.

Meanwhile, Hamas’ public diplomacy office has updated its death toll from the war to 14,532.