Spain Announces Arms Embargo on Israel and Other Steps 'to Stop the Genocide in Gaza'

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday announced a series of nine new measures—including a total arms embargo—aimed at pressuring the government of fugitive Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "to stop the genocide in Gaza."

Sánchez, who leads the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), announced the steps during a speech in which he first acknowledged the historical suffering of the Jewish people, which includes the 1492 ethnic cleansing of Jews from Spain.

"The Jewish people have suffered countless persecutions, deserve to have their own state, and to feel secure," Sánchez said. "That is why the Spanish government has condemned Hamas' attacks from day one."

However, "there is a difference between defending your country and bombing hospitals or starving innocent children," the prime minister continued. "This is an unjustifiable attack on the civilian population, which the [United Nations] rapporteur has described as genocide."

"Sixty thousand dead, two million displaced, half of them children," Sánchez said. "This is not self-defense, it is not even an attack—it is the extermination of a defenseless people and a violation of every international law."

The nine measures—which must be approved by lawmakers and the Cabinet—include:

• A "legal and permanent prohibition" on the purchase and sale of weapons, ammunition, and military equipment;
• A ban on transit through Spanish ports for all ships carrying fuels destined for Israel's military;
• Denial of entry into Spanish airspace for all state aircraft carrying military equipment to Israel;
• A ban on entry to Spain for "all persons directly involved in genocide, human rights violations, and war crimes" in Gaza;
• Prohibition of imported products from illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories;
• Limitation of consular services for Spanish citizens residing in illegal Israeli settlements;
• Strengthened support for the Palestinian Authority;
• An additional €10 million in support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA); and
• An increase in overall humanitarian spending for Gaza, to reach €150 million by 2026.

"Spain does not have nuclear bombs. We cannot stop the Israeli offensive alone, but we will not stop trying," Sánchez said, recognizing the limitations of Monday's action.

Spain's new measures come in addition to its earlier steps toward an arms embargo, promotion of several UN ceasefire resolutions, support for the International Criminal Court's (ICC) effort to bring Netanyahu to justice and the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) ongoing South Africa-led genocide case against Israel, and formal recognition of Palestinian statehood.

Individual Spanish politicians have also taken action for Palestine, including former Social Rights Minister Ione Belarra, an early proponent for ICC prosecution of Netanyahu and others; former leftist lawmaker and Palma City Councilmember Lucia Muñoz, a participant in the Global Sumud Flotilla; and former Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau, another flotilla member whose city cut ties with Israel prior to the Gaza genocide over "the crime of apartheid against the Palestinian people."

The Global Sumud Flotilla—whose other members include Mandla Mandela, Susan Sarandon, and Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg—set sail from Barcelona last month and was warmly welcomed Sunday upon a stopover in Tunis, Tunisia en route to the coast of Gaza, where activists will attempt to break an Israeli blockade and deliver desperately needed humanitarian aid.

The Israeli government responded to Sánchez's announcement with its customary allegation of antisemitism and an entry ban on Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz and Youth Minister Sira Rego.

"It is a point of pride that a genocidal state is banning me," said Díaz, a member of the Communist Party of Spain and Sumar movement.

Spain subsequently recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv. The Spanish Foreign Ministry said the government "would not be intimidated in its defense of peace, international law, and human rights."

According to figures from the Gaza Health Ministry—which experts contend are likely a vast undercount—at least 64,522 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since October 2023, most of them women and children. More than 163,000 others have been wounded, and thousands more are missing and presumed dead and buried beneath rubble.

Hundreds of thousands of Gazans are starving to death in a famine largely caused by Israel's "complete siege" of the coastal exclave. At least hundreds of Palestinians have starved to death in what hunger experts and every United Nations Security Council member except the United States have called a man-made catastrophe caused by Israeli policies and practices.

The ICC warrants issued last year for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant accuse the pair of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including forced starvation and murder.

On Monday, Spain also condemned what it called a "terrorist attack" that left six people, including Spanish citizen Yakov Pinto, dead in a mass shooting north of occupied Jerusalem.

Sánchez's announcement followed pro-Palestine and anti-genocide protests in cities including the capital Madrid, where demonstrators rallied outside the Israeli Embassy on Saturday and shouted messages including, "It's Not a War, It's a Genocide!" and "Israel Kills, Europe Sponsors!"

On Sunday, demonstrators gathered in Madrid's Callao Square, where participants read aloud the names of many of the more than 18,500 Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, followed by the word "murdered."

According to a June Pew Research Center survey, 75% of Spanish respondents have a negative view of Israel, with 46%—the highest percentage of any non-Muslim nation in the 24 nations polled—having a "very unfavorable" view of the country.