Frankly Speaking: Why Spain stands out in standing up for Palestine

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Updated 11 February 2024
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Frankly Speaking: Why Spain stands out in standing up for Palestine

  • Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares indicates Madrid will take its own decision if Europe continues to waver in its support
  • Backs two-state solution with land corridor linking Gaza Strip and West Bank and East Jerusalem as capital
  • Urges donors to restore UNRWA funding, says allegations against 12 employees unrepresentative of agency

DUBAI: Spain’s minister of foreign affairs has indicated that if Europe continues to waver in its support for the Palestinians, “as a sovereign country” Spain would “take its own decisions.”

Jose Manuel Albares also said that peace in the Middle East can only be achieved through the creation of a Palestinian state, linking Gaza and the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The Spanish diplomat, who has been serving as minister of foreign affairs, European Union and cooperation since 2021, made the remarks during an appearance on the Arab News current affairs show “Frankly Speaking.”




Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares on Frankly Speaking. (AN photo)

According to Albares, while the 27 member states of the European Union “all want peace” in the Middle East, there were “nuances” in the way they saw this materializing.

For Spain, however, the position is “very clear:” It wants to see an immediate halt to the Israel-Hamas conflict, unrestricted humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip, and the implementation of the “two-state solution.”

“We’re calling for a permanent ceasefire, the immediate release of hostages, the immediate access of humanitarian aid, and for a peace conference that will be the framework (for the) implementation of the two-state solution,” Albares said.

“In the end, we all know that as long as the Palestinian people do not have a state, there will be no stable Middle East.

“And we all know the real solution for this situation in the Middle East and for a definitive peace is a state with the West Bank and Gaza under one single Palestinian authority that is connected by a corridor with an exit to the sea and with the capital in East Jerusalem.”




Appearing on “Frankly Speaking,” Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said that while the 27 member states of the European Union “all want peace” in the region, there were “nuances” in the way they saw this materializing. (AN photo)

Describing the solution as “fair and just” for the Palestinian people, Albares said the two-state model offered Israel the “best guarantee” of achieving domestic security and of avoiding a wider regional conflagration.

However, in his role coordinating Spain’s engagement with the European Union, Albares acknowledged that the proposal was still in the “dialogue” stage, as the bloc sought a way to move forward as a collective unit.

He also noted the “growing concern” in the Global South — a term often used to denote the world’s developing economies — over the bloc’s dithering response to the crisis in Gaza compared to its firm alignment on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“That’s why it’s so important, and I always explain it to my European colleagues, that we maintain the same position: To follow the UN Charter and its principles, whether it’s Ukraine, on which we have a clear position, a very clear position,” Albares told Katie Jensen, the host of “Frankly Speaking.”

“Any country has the right to defend itself from a terrorist attack, Israel as well, but you must do it in compliance with international humanitarian law.




Palestinians wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip are treated in a hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo)

“There must be a difference between terrorist targets and bombing hospitals, schools, places of prayer, UN headquarters. Refugees are the same. It doesn’t matter the color of their skin, their religion, their sex, they are all the same and they all deserve our protection.”

Speaking to Arab News from Riyadh, during an official tour of three Gulf countries, Albares said Spain shared the opinion of his Arab hosts, with discussions having inevitably turned to the conflict in Gaza and its wider regional ramifications.

Albares praised his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, for his “incredible role” in working towards peace in the region.




Spanish Foreign Minister Albares praised his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, for his “incredible role” in working towards peace in the region. (Supplied)

“We needed a great moment of Euro-Arab unity and we have discussed joining forces to make sure definitive peace comes back to the Middle East,” he said.

“This is what we are calling for and we will not stop calling for that. And my tour in the region, in Riyadh, in the Emirates, it’s carrying this message and in the medium and long term we need the state of Palestine.”

In the interim, Albares said the most pressing need for Gazans is an increase in the amount of humanitarian aid permitted to enter the besieged Palestinian enclave.

“We are not going to stop calling for a permanent ceasefire. A permanent ceasefire and the immediate release of hostages and immediate access of humanitarian aid is what we need in the very short term,” he said.

Aid deliveries, already reduced to a trickle by onerous Israeli border checks, have been further hampered by recent allegations lodged against staff working for the UN Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, which caters for Palestinian refugees.




Israeli soldiers operate next to the UNRWA headquarters in the Gaza Strip Feb. 8, 2024. (Reuters)

According to evidence shared with the UN by Israeli intelligence, 12 members of UNRWA staff in Gaza actively participated in the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the death of 1,200 and the kidnap of 240, sparking the current conflict.

In response to the allegations, the US and other major UNRWA donors suspended their funding for the agency, which could be forced to halt its operations throughout the region by the end of the month unless donations are restored.

Asked whether he believed the allegations were true, or whether the funding suspensions were justified, Albares said that 12 people out of 30,000 staff, none of whom had any connection to UNRWA’s leadership, was a “very small number.”

“There are allegations against 12 people and we take this very seriously and we are looking at the conclusion of the inquiry,” he said, referring to the UN agency’s own internal investigation.

“But UNRWA is indispensable. There is no substitute for UNRWA. They are taking care of millions of refugees in Gaza. And in many other places — Lebanon, in Jordan, the West Bank — and what they do in Gaza is absolutely fundamental.”




Palestinians walk past a UNRWA worker in the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on February 5, 2024. (REUTERS)

Given the essential role played by UNRWA, Albares said millions of people who depend on its support would go unfed unless funding is restored. That is why Spain intends to up its UNRWA contribution to help stave off the agency’s collapse.

“They give food and emergency aid to refugees, so, if they fail, if they are not sufficiently funded from one day to the other, they will not be able to feed those people,” Albares said.

“This is why we have decided to increase our contribution to around 3.5 million euros, to make sure that UNRWA will be able to function, and this is what I am explaining to all of my European colleagues.”

Spain is not alone among European nations in bolstering its support for UNRWA. Ireland and Norway have likewise renewed their commitment to the agency.

 

 

However, these nations alone cannot make up for the huge shortfall created by the suspension of US funding, which had contributed $300-400 million annually. Without this funding, Albares said the region was “heading toward a real humanitarian catastrophe.”

“We are already there. Almost 30,000 Palestinians, civilians, dead. It’s a catastrophe. But here we are talking about something unthinkable — hunger in Gaza,” he said.

“And we can avoid it if we continue giving sufficient funding. That’s why we are increasing. We are showing commitment to the Palestinian refugees in Gaza.”




Appearing on “Frankly Speaking,” Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said that while the 27 member states of the European Union “all want peace” in the region, there were “nuances” in the way they saw this materializing. (AN photo)

Mindful of the potential misuse of donations, Albares said Spain has a “very tough screening” process for any country to which it is sending aid, adding that the money going to Palestine is “well used.”

He implored countries to restore their donations, pointing out that UNRWA and the UN have not tried to “hide anything.”

“They have their own investigation and they’ve also called for an independent investigation, so, I think they are showing goodwill. Let’s wait until those investigations are carried out,” he said.

“Meanwhile, let’s follow what the secretary-general of the UN, Antonio Guterres, has made an appeal for. Let’s continue funding UNRWA.”

 


Orchestra conductor mourns childhood home’s destruction in Israel’s southern Lebanon offensive

Updated 5 sec ago
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Orchestra conductor mourns childhood home’s destruction in Israel’s southern Lebanon offensive

  • Destruction of Lubnan Baalbaki’s childhood home in October came during Israel’s offensive in Lebanon
  • Baalbaki’s family home in Odaisseh, designed by his late father, held more than just personal memories
BEIRUT: Lubnan Baalbaki, the conductor of the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra, watched on his phone screen as an aerial camera pointed to a village in southern Lebanon. In seconds, multiple houses erupted into rubble, smoke filling the air. The camera panned right, revealing widespread devastation.
He zoomed in to confirm his fears: His family’s house in the border village of Odaisseh, where his parents are buried, was now in ruins.
“To see your house getting bombed and in a split second turned into ash, I don’t think there is description for it,” Baalbaki said.
The destruction of his childhood home in October came during Israel’s offensive in Lebanon. The aim, Israel says, is to debilitate the Hezbollah militant group, push it away from the border and end more than a year of Hezbollah fire into northern Israel.
The Israeli military has released videos of controlled detonations in areas along the border, saying it is targeting Hezbollah facilities and weapons.
But the bombardment has also wiped out entire residential neighborhoods or even villages. The World Bank in a recent report said over 99,000 housing units have been “fully or partially damaged” by the war in Lebanon.
Baalbaki’s family home in Odaisseh, designed by his late father, renowned Lebanese painter Abdel Hamid Baalbaki, held more than just personal memories. It held a collection of Abdel Hamid’s paintings, his art workshop and over 1,500 books. All were destroyed along with the house.
What cut even deeper, Baalbaki said, was the loss of the letters his parents exchanged during his father’s art studies in France. Only a few remain as digital photos.
“The language of passion and love they shared was filled with poetry,” Baalbaki said.
In a book of poems and photographs his father created for his wife following her sudden death in a car accident, the first page reads, “Dedication to Adeeba, the partner of my most precious days, the love bird that left its nest too soon.”
Abdel Hamid painstakingly designed his wife’s tombstone. Later, he was laid to rest beside her in the garden next to the house. For their son, watching his childhood home go up in smoke brought back the pain of losing them.
It was a moment he had feared for months.
Hezbollah began firing missiles into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza. Israel responded with airstrikes and shelling. For nearly a year, the conflict remained limited.
After the war dramatically escalated on Sept. 23 with intense Israeli airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon as well as Beirut’s southern suburbs, Baalbaki and his siblings frequently checked satellite images for updates on their village.
On Oct. 26, explosions in and around Odaisseh triggered an earthquake alert in northern Israel. That day, videos circulated online, one of which showed their home being obliterated.
Until a few days before that, the satellite images showed their house still standing.
Now, Baalbaki said, he is resolved to honor his father’s dream.
“The mourning phase started to turn to determination to rebuild this project,” he said.
When the war is over, he plans to rebuild the house as an art museum and cultural center.

226 health workers killed in Lebanon since Oct. 7 — WHO

Updated 23 November 2024
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226 health workers killed in Lebanon since Oct. 7 — WHO

  • Over 187 attacks on healthcare workers have taken place in Lebanon over 13 months, says UN health agency
  • Fifteen of Lebanon’s 153 hospitals have ceased operating or are only partially functioning, warns WHO

GENEVA: Nearly 230 health workers have been killed in Lebanon since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza following the Oct. 7 attacks last year, the World Health Organization said.
In total, the UN health agency said there had been 187 attacks on health care in Lebanon in the more than 13 months of cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah over the Gaza conflict.
Between Oct. 7, 2023 and Nov.18 this year, “we have 226 deaths and 199 injuries in total,” Abdinasir Abubakar, the WHO representative in Lebanon, said via video link from Beirut.
He said “almost 70 percent” of these had occurred since the tensions escalated into an all-out war in September.
Saying this was “an extremely worrying pattern,” he stressed that “depriving civilians of access to lifesaving care and targeting health providers is a breach of international humanitarian law.”
Abubakar said: “A hallmark of the conflict in Lebanon is how destructive it has been to health care,” highlighting that 47 percent of these attacks “have proven fatal to at least one health worker or patient” — the highest percentage of any active conflict today.
By comparison, Abubakar said that only 13.3 percent of attacks on health care globally had fatal outcomes during the same period, pointing to data from a range of conflict situations, including Ukraine, Sudan, and the occupied Palestinian territory.
He suggested the high percentage of fatal attacks on health care in Lebanon might be because “more ambulances have been targeted.”
“And whenever the ambulance is targeted, actually, then you will have three, four or five paramedics ... killed.”
The conflict has dealt a harsh blow to overall health care in Lebanon, which was already reeling from a string of dire crises in recent years.
The WHO warned that 15 of Lebanon’s 153 hospitals have ceased operating or are only partially functioning.
Hanan Balkhy, WHO’s regional director for the eastern Mediterranean region, stressed that “attacks on health care of this scale cripple a health system when those whose lives depend on it need it the most.”
“Beyond the loss of life, the death of health workers is a loss of years of investment and a crucial resource to a fragile country going forward.”


Israeli airstrike hits central Beirut, destroying buildings

Updated 45 min 54 sec ago
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Israeli airstrike hits central Beirut, destroying buildings

  • Footage broadcast by Lebanon’s Al Jadeed station showed at least one destroyed building and several others badly damaged around it

BEIRUT: A powerful Israeli airstrike targeted central Beirut on Saturday, security sources said, shaking the Lebanese capital as Israel pressed its offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
At least four people were killed and 33 wounded in the attack in Beirut’s Basta neighborhood, Hezbollah’s Al-Manar broadcaster reported, citing the health ministry.
Lebanon’s National News Agency said early on Saturday that the attack resulted in a large number of fatalities and injuries and destroyed an eight-story building. Footage broadcast by Lebanon’s Al Jadeed station showed at least one destroyed building and several others badly damaged around it.
The blasts shook the capital around 4 a.m. (0200 GMT), Reuters witnesses said. Security sources said at least four bombs were dropped in the attack.
It marked the fourth Israeli airstrike this week targeting a central area of Beirut, where the bulk of Israel’s attacks have targeted the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs. On Sunday an Israeli airstrike killed a Hezbollah media official in the Ras Al-Nabaa district of central Beirut.
Israel launched a major offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon in September, following nearly a year of cross-border hostilities ignited by the Gaza war, pounding wide areas of Lebanon with airstrikes and sending troops into the south.
The conflict began when Hezbollah opened fire in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas after it launched the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel.
A US mediator traveled to Lebanon and Israel this week in an effort to secure a ceasefire. The envoy, Amos Hochstein, indicated progress had been made after meetings in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday, before going to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz.


226 health workers killed in Lebanon since Oct. 7: WHO

Updated 23 November 2024
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226 health workers killed in Lebanon since Oct. 7: WHO

  • Abubakar said: “A hallmark of the conflict in Lebanon is how destructive it has been to health care,” highlighting that 47 percent of these attacks “have proven fatal to at least one health worker or patient”

GENEVA: Nearly 230 health workers have been killed in Lebanon since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza following the Oct. 7 attacks last year, the World Health Organization said.
In total, the UN health agency said there had been 187 attacks on health care in Lebanon in the more than 13 months of cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah over the Gaza conflict.
Between Oct. 7, 2023 and Nov.18 this year, “we have 226 deaths and 199 injuries in total,” Abdinasir Abubakar, the WHO representative in Lebanon, said via video link from Beirut.
He said “almost 70 percent” of these had occurred since the tensions escalated into an all-out war in September.
Saying this was “an extremely worrying pattern,” he stressed that “depriving civilians of access to lifesaving care and targeting health providers is a breach of international humanitarian law.”
Abubakar said: “A hallmark of the conflict in Lebanon is how destructive it has been to health care,” highlighting that 47 percent of these attacks “have proven fatal to at least one health worker or patient” — the highest percentage of any active conflict today.
By comparison, Abubakar said that only 13.3 percent of attacks on health care globally had fatal outcomes during the same period, pointing to data from a range of conflict situations, including Ukraine, Sudan, and the occupied Palestinian territory.
He suggested the high percentage of fatal attacks on health care in Lebanon might be because “more ambulances have been targeted.”
“And whenever the ambulance is targeted, actually, then you will have three, four or five paramedics ... killed.”
The conflict has dealt a harsh blow to overall health care in Lebanon, which was already reeling from a string of dire crises in recent years.
The WHO warned that 15 of Lebanon’s 153 hospitals have ceased operating or are only partially functioning.
Hanan Balkhy, WHO’s regional director for the eastern Mediterranean region, stressed that “attacks on health care of this scale cripple a health system when those whose lives depend on it need it the most.”
“Beyond the loss of life, the death of health workers is a loss of years of investment and a crucial resource to a fragile country going forward.”

 


Little hope in Gaza that arrest warrants will cool Israeli onslaught

A Palestinian little girl queues for food in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP)
Updated 22 November 2024
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Little hope in Gaza that arrest warrants will cool Israeli onslaught

  • An Israeli strike hit the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, one of three medical facilities barely operational in the area, injuring six medical staff, some critically, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement

GAZA: Gazans saw little hope on Friday that International Criminal Court arrest warrants for Israeli leaders would slow down the onslaught on the Palestinian territory, where medics said at least 21 people were killed in fresh Israeli military strikes.
In Gaza City in the north, an Israeli strike on a house in Shejaia killed eight people, medics said.
Three others were killed in a strike near a bakery, and a fisherman was killed as he set out to sea. In the central and southern areas, nine people were killed in three separate Israeli air strikes.

FASTFACT

Residents in the three besieged towns on Gaza’s northern edge — Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun — said Israeli forces had blown up dozens of houses.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces deepened their incursion and bombardment of the northern edge of the enclave, their main offensive since early last month.
The military claims it aims to prevent Hamas fighters from waging attacks and regrouping there; residents say they fear the aim is to permanently depopulate a strip of territory as a buffer zone, which Israel denies.
Residents in the three besieged towns on the northern edge — Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanoun — said Israeli forces had blown up dozens of houses.
An Israeli strike hit the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, one of three medical facilities barely operational in the area, injuring six medical staff, some critically, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement.
“The strike also destroyed the hospital’s main generator and punctured the water tanks, leaving the hospital without oxygen or water, which threatens the lives of patients and staff inside the hospital,” it added.
It said 85 wounded people, including children and women, were inside, eight in the ICU.
Gazans saw the ICC’s decision to seek the arrest of Israeli leaders for suspected war crimes as international recognition of the enclave’s plight. But those queuing for bread at a bakery in the southern city of Khan Younis were doubtful it would have any impact.
“The decision will not be implemented because America protects Israel, and it can veto anything. Israel will not be held accountable,” said Saber Abu Ghali as he waited for his turn in the crowd.
Saeed Abu Youssef, 75, said that even if justice arrived, it would be decades late: “We have been hearing decisions for more than 76 years that have not been implemented and haven’t done anything for us.” Israel launched its assault on Gaza after militants stormed across the border fence, killed 1,200 people, and seized more than 250 hostages on Oct. 7, 2023.
Since then, nearly 44,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, much of which has been laid to waste.
The court’s prosecutors said there were reasonable grounds to believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant were criminally responsible for acts including murder, persecution, and starvation as a weapon of war, as part of a “widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza.”
Israeli politicians from across the political spectrum have denounced the ICC arrest warrants as biased and based on false evidence, and Israel says the court has no jurisdiction over the war.
Hamas hailed the arrest warrants as a first step toward justice.
Efforts by Arab mediators backed by the US to conclude a ceasefire deal have stalled.
Hamas wants a deal that ends the war, while Netanyahu has vowed the war can end only once Hamas is eradicated.