Spain’s Minister for Social Rights Ione Belarra condemned "Israel" for plotting a "planned genocide" in Gaza, as she described the siege on the Strip as an act of "collective punishment" potentially constituting a "war crime".

She continued to urge the people of Spain to take to the streets and demand to refrain from joining the US unwavering support for "Israel", urging the Global South to come up with a solution. 

"Today we want to raise our voice to denounce that the state of Israel is carrying out a planned genocide in the Gaza Strip, leaving hundreds of thousands without light, food, and water and carrying out bombings on the civilian population that are collective punishment, seriously breach international law and may be considered war crimes,” she expressed. 

We ask our partner that, as the Government of Spain, we bring Netanyahu before the International Criminal Court for war crimes. Here is my official statement 👇 pic.twitter.com/Wuu8nnKfVp

— Ione Belarra (@ionebelarra) October 16, 2023

Belarra demanded humanitarian corridors be opened in Gaza while advising the European Union not to be "an accomplice of a war criminal," reportedly referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Read next: Ireland stands up for Gaza: Palestine has every right to resist

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Spain's own collective punishment?

Meanwhile, acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called on his supporters to protest against "Israel's" actions but simultaneously asked the International Criminal Court to investigate both "Israel" and Hamas' actions as potential "war crimes".

However, during a demonstration in Merida on Saturday, Sanchez criticized Hamas while claiming "Israel's" "right to defend itself" while also adding that international humanitarian law needs to be respected and followed.

He stated that he intends to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza, which comes after last week's controversy by EU Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi who announced that “all payments” to Palestinians were suspended as a result of Hamas' operation.

The scale of terror and brutality against #Israel and its people is a turning point.

There can be no business as usual.

As the biggest donor of the Palestinians, the European Commission is putting its full development portfolio under review, worth a total of EUR 691m
⤵️

— Oliver Varhelyi (@OliverVarhelyi) October 9, 2023

This comes after EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell claimed EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen did not represent the body when she announced support to Netanyahu during a visit to Gaza on Friday, which she was chastised for, as she did not explicitly call on "Israel" to abide by international law.

Borell said "Israel’s" actions in Gaza already may have breached international law, as he underlined the need for the EU to continue the funding for Palestine.

Many European leftist parties have criticized the leaders of their countries who expressed solidarity with "Israel" after the Palestinian Resistance launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in response to the never-ending Israeli aggression and crimes against Palestinians.

🇪🇸🇵🇸 Pro-Palestine protest in Madrid, Spain.#IsraelPalestineWar #FreePalastine #Palestina pic.twitter.com/1M9L7B3jl7

— Free Palestine 🇯🇴 (@Arshii222) October 10, 2023