Gaza contact group to hold talks with Spanish FM in Barcelona

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
27 Nov 2023 00:18

The Turkish Foreign Ministry announces that the Gaza contact group will be meeting with the Spanish Foreign Minister in Barcelona, Spain, after the City Council announced cutting ties with "Israel".

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attends a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, on Aug. 31, 2023. (AP)

The Turkish Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday that the Gaza contact group will hold talks with Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares.

The group, consisting of senior diplomats from Turkey, Nigeria, Indonesia, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, in addition to the secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), was formed during the joint summit of the OIC and the Arab League in Riyadh, back on November 11.

The Gaza group aims to implement an immediate ceasefire and provide Gaza with humanitarian relief aid.

"From November 26-27, 2023, [Turkish Foreign] Minister Hakan Fidan will visit Barcelona to take part in the eighth Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Regional Forum. The humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and the situation in the region will be discussed as the only topic on the agenda of the forum," the Ministry said in a statement.

The statement further noted that Fidan, alongside a number of foreign ministers of countries of the group, will also hold talks with the top Spanish diplomat.

Barcelona suspends relations with 'Israel'

On November 24, the Barcelona City Council decided to suspend institutional relations with "Israel" until a definitive ceasefire in Gaza and the assurance of basic rights for Palestinians, following a proposal by left-wing party Barcelona en Comú, approved by PSC and ERC with opposition from PP and Vox.

Earlier this year, former mayor Ada Colau had severed ties with the regime and annulled a twinning agreement with "Tel Aviv", a measure that Jaume Collboni lifted shortly after being appointed mayor.

However, in the face of the genocide of the Palestinian people by "Israel", relations have once again been temporarily suspended until there is "a definitive ceasefire in the Gaza Strip."

Despite the suspension of official relations, municipal sources have confirmed to ACN (Agència Catalana de Notícies) that the suspension of diplomatic ties with "Israel" does not impact the relations between Barcelona and "Tel Aviv".

According to the proposal set forth by Barcelona en Comú, Spain is calling for the establishment of humanitarian corridors to ensure the arrival of sufficient fuel, food, water, medicines, supplies, and medical equipment for the civilian population of Gaza.

It also requests the inclusion of a clause in all public contracts to ensure that "no operator belongs to or carries out" financial transactions or economic activities "contrary to international humanitarian law."

The proposition underscores "that the occupation and colonization of Palestinian territories, as well as the denial of the most basic rights to the Palestinian population, are the main obstacles to achieving a just and lasting peace."

"It's not a war, it's a genocide, and as President Pedro Sánchez has stated, it is unbearable, and if it is unbearable, we not only need to denounce it, we must act and not stay on the sidelines," Colau said, adding that "every ten minutes, a child dies in the Gaza Strip under the bombs of one of the most powerful armies in the world."