(Madrid) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is due to meet Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Thursday, on his first visit to the country since Madrid recognised the State of Palestine in May.
Mr Abbas’s rare visit to the Spanish capital comes at “the invitation of Spain” before the Palestinian president heads to New York to attend the annual United Nations General Assembly, according to a source in the Palestinian presidency.
The Spanish Prime Minister’s Office said Tuesday morning that the Prime Minister would meet with Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday, but the rest of the Palestinian president’s visit is not yet known.
According to the same Palestinian source, Mahmoud Abbas should also be received by King Felipe VI of Spain, but the Royal House, contacted by AFP, did not immediately confirm this meeting.
The visit follows Spain’s recognition of the State of Palestine on May 28, along with Ireland and Norway. The Spanish left-wing government then announced “a first bilateral summit between Spain and Palestine […] by the end of the year.”
On Monday, King Felipe VI received the credentials of the first Palestinian ambassador to Spain, a symbolic manifestation of Madrid’s recognition of the Palestinian state.
Although Mr. Sánchez was careful to say that the recognition of the State of Palestine was not taken “against anyone and even less against Israel”, this decision had led to a further deterioration of relations between the two countries, which are at their lowest point.
Since the beginning of the conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, almost a year ago, the Spanish government has taken a number of very critical positions towards Israel.
The war has left at least 41,252 dead in the small territory, according to the latest figures from the Hamas government’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians killed.
“Strengthening our ties”
The conflict was sparked by a Hamas attack in southern Israel on October 7 that killed 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli data. Of the 251 people kidnapped that day, 97 are still being held in Gaza, 33 of whom have been declared dead by the Israeli military.
Reaffirming his full support for the Palestinian cause, Mr. Sánchez had promised in his back-to-school speech at the beginning of September that Spain would “continue to put pressure” on the head of the Israeli government, Benjamin Netanyahu, in all international bodies, notably before the International Criminal Court (ICC), whose prosecutor requested arrest warrants for Mr. Netanyahu and his Minister of Defense in May.
In addition, Spain has joined, like other countries, the proceedings brought in late 2023 by South Africa against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest court of the United Nations, for alleged violation of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.
“We are going to strengthen our ties with the Palestinian state that we recently recognized,” continued Mr. Sánchez, specifying that the first bilateral Spanish-Palestinian summit should result in the signing of “several collaboration agreements.”
Since then, Madrid hosted a meeting at the end of last week, attended by numerous representatives of European and Arab countries, including Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, to advance the so-called two-state solution.
“The international community must take a decisive step towards a just and lasting peace in the Middle East,” the socialist leader insisted on this occasion.