Spanish premier calls Israeli strategy in Gaza ‘deeply wrong’

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Thursday it is “important to tell the Israeli government that its strategy in Gaza is deeply wrong.”

“The result of this will not only be a more isolated Israel, but a more unsafe Israel and region,” Sanchez said at a joint news conference in Madrid, alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Spain has been one of the EU’s most vocal critics of Israel’s war against the Gaza Strip, while Germany has generally been more supportive of Tel Aviv.

Sanchez acknowledged differences but stressed shared goals.

“What matters is that the Spanish and German governments are united in goals. We may have discrepancies on the best way to reach them, but the EU’s goal is peaceful coexistence between the Israeli and Palestinian people, and for the violence and suffering to end,” he said.

He added that both agree on the need for a stronger Europe.

“That means defending international law and the right of nations to decide their future,” he said. “In our case, we also express this when we talk about the Middle East and the suffering of the Gaza population.”

Sanchez insisted that Spain is a friend of Israel, but said its Mediterranean identity makes it especially concerned about regional stability.

“As a country that suffered from terrorism -- fortunately, ETA has disappeared, but Madrid suffered the biggest jihad attack in Europe -- we know how to defeat it. And it is not how Israel is trying, with indiscriminate attacks on the civilian population,” he said.

Sanchez also emphasized unity with Berlin.​​​​​​​

“Germany and Spain will continue deepening ties and pushing for a stronger EU. The message of unity is the strongest message we can send not only to our citizens but also to those governments that want to divide us and weaken our common project,” he said. “The EU is a history of success that continues inspiring, and we must defend its legacy with coherence.”