Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will visit Turkey on Friday to strengthen his common position with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Gaza in an attempt to increase pressure on Israel.
The visit comes as Sánchez increasingly positions Spain as a mediator between Europe and the Arab world, drawing on long-standing diplomatic ties and Madrid’s recognition of Palestinian statehood — a move that was recently praised by Erdogan.
Last weekend, Sánchez was the only European leader to attend the Arab League summit in Baghdad, where he announced that Spain would present two proposals at the upcoming UN General Assembly session and called for a united “Euro-Arab” response to achieve stability in the region.
One of the proposals, supported by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, calls for an end to the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza. The second calls on the International Court of Justice in The Hague to ensure that Israel complies with international law.
“They will only be successful if there is a broad Arab-European consensus that leads to decisive action by the entire international community,” he said, adding that “the priority is to strengthen the Euro-Arab-Islamic dialogue to resolve the problems in the region.”
The Spanish prime minister also plans to discuss bilateral issues and the international situation with the Turkish leader.
Spain’s support for Gaza
Among EU countries, Spain has taken a fairly tough stance on Israel amid the Middle East conflict. As announced by Sanchez on May 17, Madrid intends to propose that the UN International Court of Justice give its opinion on the Jewish state’s compliance with its obligations regarding humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip.
The Spanish authorities officially recognised Palestine as a state in May 2024.
Last week, Israel announced that it would allow a “basic amount” of food into Gaza to prevent the threat of famine in the enclave.
On May 18, the Israeli army announced the start of military operations in the northern and southern areas of the enclave as part of a large-scale ground operation called Operation Gideon’s Chariots.
According to the International Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) food security monitoring initiative, approximately 1.95 million Palestinians in Gaza are currently facing food shortages, with over 133,000 starving. The organisation’s report states that due to Israel’s expansion of military operations throughout the Palestinian enclave and the inability of humanitarian organisations to deliver aid to the population, “the risk of famine in the Gaza Strip is not only possible, it is becoming increasingly likely.”
