Israel summons ambassador in Madrid to consult on Spanish PM's comments

Tel Aviv announced it summoned its Ambassador to Madrid Rodica Radian for consultations in light of “heinous” statements by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

“Following the heinous statements of the Spanish Prime Minister, in which he repeated baseless accusations, we have decided to summon the Israeli ambassador to Spain for consultations,” Foreign Minister Eli Cohen wrote on X.

"Israel is acting and will continue to act in accordance with international law. We will persist in our efforts until the release of all kidnapped individuals and the eradication of Hamas in Gaza,” he added.

Cohen did not specify a date for Radian’s return to Israel.

It followed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's instruction to the Foreign Ministry to summon the Spanish ambassador for a “rebuke session".

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed Minister of Foreign Affairs Eli Cohen to summon the Spanish Ambassador to Israel for a reprimand following the shameful comments by the Spanish Prime Minister,” his office said without specifying if the summons had taken place or a date.

The 'heinous' remarks

Earlier, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that, given the number of casualties among civilians in Gaza, he doubts Israel is respecting the international humanitarian law.

"The footage we are seeing and the growing numbers of children dying, I have serious doubt (Israel) is complying with international humanitarian law," he said in an interview with Spanish state-owned broadcaster TVE.

"What we are seeing in Gaza is not acceptable," he added.