Spain’s Ione Belarra: Israel must end ‘genocide’ of Palestinians in Gaza

In an interview with Al Jazeera, the left-wing politician says world leaders are failing to act against Israel’s onslaught.

By Graham Keeley
Published On 8 Nov 2023

In an interview with Al Jazeera, a Spanish minister has called on the international community to sanction Israel, which she accused of a “planned genocide” of Palestinians in Gaza.

Ione Belarra, the Spanish minister for social rights and leader of the far-left Podemos party, also condemned world leaders for an apparent double standard – saying while human rights abuses in Ukraine have been decried, there is a “deafening silence” on the victims of Israeli bombardment.

“The Israeli state must end this planned genocide against the Palestine people,” Belarra said on Wednesday.

“Why can we give lessons in human rights in other conflicts and not here when the world is watching in horror? The deaths of thousands of children, the mothers desperately shouting because they are witnessing the killing of their children.

“There is a deafening silence of so many countries and so many political leaders who could do something. I speak about what I know well, which is the European Union. It seems the display of hypocrisy, which the European Commission is showing, is unacceptable.”

Spain and other nations should break off diplomatic relations with Israel in protest against its assault on Gaza, she insisted.

On October 7, the Palestinian group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, carried out an unprecedented attack in Israel, killing more than 1,000 Israelis and taking hundreds captive.

With the stated aim to crush Hamas, Israel then began bombarding Gaza, one of the world’s most densely populated areas, killing more than 10,000 people, including many children.

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Spanish citizens have been caught on both sides of the crisis.

El Pais newspaper, citing diplomatic sources, has reported that Ivan Illarramendi, who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, has died. He was living in a kibbutz.

Spain is also among the Western nations trying to evacuate some of its citizens from Gaza.

Continue reading at www.aljazeera.com

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