Tensions between Israel and Spain escalated further this Friday when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expelled the Spanish delegation from the Civilian-Military Coordination Center (CMCC). The CMCC is responsible for monitoring the ceasefire in Gaza and facilitating humanitarian aid in the enclave. The decision, formally communicated to Madrid and previously conveyed to the United States, marks another blow to the relations between the two countries. «I have ordered the expulsion of the Spanish representatives from the coordination center in Kiryat Gat, after Spain has once again chosen to position itself against Israel,» stated the prime minister. «I will not allow any country to wage a diplomatic war against us without paying an immediate price for it,» he added. In line with this, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar stated that «the government of Sánchez has such a blatant anti-Israel bias that it has lost any capacity to be a useful actor in the implementation of the US president's (Donald Trump) peace plan and in the CMCC, which operates within the framework of the plan». In response, Spanish Prime Minister Sánchez urged the European Union on Friday to suspend the association agreement with Israel due to «blatant» violations of international humanitarian law. He also warned that «a new Gaza in Lebanon will not be allowed,» as reported by Euronews and the newspaper El Mundo, and learned by the Argentine News Agency. During his intervention at the European Pulse Forum held in Barcelona, the head of the Spanish government called on the EU to act coherently and respond to what he considers a breach of several articles of the agreement. Sánchez has previously made several appeals to act within the framework of international law and has denounced what he considers a contempt for life in the actions of the Israeli military. On Thursday, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, accused Israel of violating international law and a recently negotiated two-week ceasefire in the Middle East, following the airstrikes launched against Lebanon on Wednesday. «Yesterday we saw how Israel, violating the ceasefire, launched hundreds of bombs on Lebanon,» stated the minister before the lower house. Spain is one of the firmest critics among Western countries of the actions of the United States and Israel in Iran and Lebanon, and has even closed its airspace to aircraft linked to a conflict that Madrid describes as reckless and illegal. The decision to exclude Spain from the Civilian-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) means, according to the Israeli leader, vetoing Spain's participation in decisions regarding the future of the region. Israel justified the measure by what it calls «an anti-Israel obsession» of the Sánchez government, reported Antena 3 and learned by the Argentine News Agency. Netanyahu accused Spain of «defaming its heroes, the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces, the most moral soldiers in the world». Its creation was one of the conditions imposed by US President Donald Trump to achieve the cessation of hostilities between Hamas and Israeli forces, and it is a peace guarantee that falls on the more than 20 countries that make it up. Among the functions of this body is the coordination of stabilization tasks in Gaza, including the entry of humanitarian aid and the supervision of the ceasefire agreement. It is monitored by the US Central Command (Centcom) and ensures compliance with the agreement that will lead the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (CNAG) to the reconstruction and management of the enclave.
