SPAIN CALLS GAZA SITUATION CATASTROPHIC, REITERATES SUPPORT FOR PALESTINE

LONDON, Jan 2 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- Spain's foreign minister on Friday denounced the "catastrophic" humanitarian situation and expressed support for peace in Gaza, while also calling for an end to violence in the occupied West Bank, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported. 

In a phone call with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, Jose Manuel Albares said he conveyed to him Spain's full support for a definitive peace in Gaza and for an end to the violence in the West Bank.

"Spain will continue working with the Palestinian Authority to sustain its financial viability and its reform plan," he wrote on the X platform, calling on Israel to transfer Palestinian tax revenues.

According to the Palestinian Finance Ministry, Israel has been withholding nearly US$2 billion in Palestinian tax revenues since 2019, describing this as a "flagrant violation" of all signed agreements.

Albares said the expansion of illegal settlements must stop as 2025 closed as a record-breaking year for expansion in the occupied West Bank, with Israel’s far-right coalition approving an unprecedented number of new settlements and housing projects.

Earlier this week, Israel approved the construction of 126 settler homes in the Sa-Nur settlement outpost in the northern West Bank, which was evacuated in 2005 under a unilateral disengagement plan.

"The humanitarian situation in Gaza is catastrophic. Restrictions on NGOs are unacceptable and worsen the situation," said the Spanish foreign minister, stressing that United Nations (UN) agencies, including the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), must be able to operate freely in Gaza and the West Bank.

"We will take part in the reconstruction so that Gazans have a future in their own land," he added.

Israel killed more than 71,000 people, mostly women and children, in Gaza since October 2023 and destroyed the enclave. A ceasefire took effect in October 2025, but Israeli violations have continued.

-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU