Spanish PM calls Israeli strikes in Lebanon an ‘invasion’

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during a press conference at the Mondragon Industrial Park in Kunshan, southeastern Jiangsu province, Shanghai, China, Sept. 11, 2024. FIle picture: AFP

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez described Israel’s military offensives in Lebanon as an “invasion” on Wednesday, saying that the international community had to act.

“It is clear that there has been an invasion by a third country of a sovereign state such as Lebanon, and therefore the international community cannot remain indifferent,” the Socialist premier told parliament.

“We denounced (this situation) in Ukraine, we also denounce it in Gaza and now we are also denouncing the invasion of Lebanon,” he added.

Having weakened Hamas, whose unprecedented October 2023 attack on Israel triggered war in Gaza, the Israeli military is now focused on Hezbollah, the Lebanese ally of Hamas.

Israel launched ground incursions into southern Lebanon on September 30 where some 10,000 peacekeepers are deployed under the command of a Spanish general.

It says the aim is to keep Hezbollah away from the border areas where the group is established and stop it firing rockets towards northern Israel, so that some 60,000 of its displaced inhabitants can return to the region.

According to official Lebanese figures, nearly 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since October 2023, including more than a thousand since the start of Israeli strikes in the south and east of its territory, as well as in the southern suburbs of Beirut, on September 23.

Sanchez is one of the most outspoken critics among European Union leaders of Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023. He has angered Israel by saying he had “serious doubts that Israel is complying with international humanitarian law” in Gaza and under his watch Madrid in May recognised a Palestinian state.

Sanchez also expressed his regret at the “lack of agreement within the European Union” on the situation in the Middle East.

“I regret this because I believe that on these issues, we should be consistent not with our position, but consistent with the defence of international law and international humanitarian law,” he said.