Sánchez tells Netanyahu that weapons are not the only answer, although he understands Israel's pain after years of ETA

The prime minister answers that Hamas wants to put an end to the Israeli State: if "we don't fight the barbarians, they will win."

JERUSALEM, Nov. 23 (From the special envoy of EUROPA PRESS, Leyre Guijo) -

The president, Pedro Sánchez, told the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, this Thursday that Spain empathizes with Israel for having suffered decades of terrorism at the hands of the terrorist group ETA, but he has conveyed to him that weapons are not the only response.

This was done in the meeting held between both leaders, in which the Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander de Croo, was also present, within the framework of the official visit carried out by the head of the Executive to the region due to the increase in hostilities motivated by the Hamas massacre in October.

Sánchez has indicated that Spain, "for decades, has suffered terribly due to terrorism", without specifically mentioning ETA, which is why he understands "the sadness" of Israel. "Spain shares Israel's pain," added the president.

However, he has insisted that while Israel "has the right" to defend itself from Hamas attacks, it must abide by international humanitarian law. "Because we also suffer from it in Spain, I am convinced that terrorism cannot be eradicated exclusively" through the use of weapons, he said, advocating for a political agreement.

Along these lines, it has once again supported the implementation of the two-state solution. In his investiture speech, he already announced that he would work in Spain and Europe for the recognition of the Palestinian State.

For Sánchez, this is the only "serious and credible" perspective to achieve peace in these territories and it must be done in accordance with the United Nations resolution, which includes Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem in Palestine.

"Without a political agreement, there will once again be a cycle of violence that never ends," said the president, emphasizing that, precisely, "working for peace" is in Israel's "interest." Thus, he has offered to help in the process.

During his speech, the president also expressed his hope that the hostages kidnapped by Hamas will be released and that the "humanitarian catastrophe" in Gaza will be stopped, stressing that civilians must be protected "at all costs." He has also called for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza "immediately," and on a regular basis. Finally, he has defended the establishment of a ceasefire.

For his part, Netanyahu has lamented that Hamas is "an especially cruel and inhumane enemy" that "fights to eliminate the Jewish State," first, then the West as a whole. In addition, he has accused them of being part of a terrorist corpus along with "Iran, Hezbollah and the Houthis" of Yemen and has also accused them of being "the new Nazis."

"If they emerge victorious from here, they will try to destroy the Middle East and then they will go to Europe and then somewhere else and if you think I am exaggerating, I am not," he warned.

"They hate our free civilization and want to destroy it, they have an ideology that is crazy," continued the Israeli prime minister, emphasizing that "the value system" of the Palestinians allows "these horrible things to be done." Faced with this, Netanyahu has advocated fighting them because, if "we don't fight the barbarians, they will win."

Furthermore, he stated that Israel is "completely committed" to international humanitarian law, but stressed that for its opponents everyone, including civilians, "are combatants." "They say that everyone is a target and no one is a civilian," she said, recalling the massacre at the Reim music festival and the death of babies or Holocaust survivors.

In parallel, he has denounced that Hamas fighters use civilians as human shields, for example in humanitarian corridors, which, he says, Israel helped establish and maintains.

"When they tried to leave, Hamas targeted them, because Hamas does not care that its civilians are killed," he said. Furthermore, he has said that there are around 150 or 200 humanitarian convoys that will bring humanitarian aid to the area, before regretting the lack of collaboration from the UN and international NGOs.