Spain’s PM Sanchez urges international community to stop selling weapons to Israel

MADRID: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday urged the international community to stop selling weapons to Israel as he condemned attacks by Israel’s armed forces against the United Nations’ peacekeeping force in Lebanon.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres, Russia, China and Italy have similarly condemned Israeli forces for the attacks on the UN peacekeeping units.

Israeli forces fired at an observation post used by UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon on Friday, injuring two, a UN source said, the third day in a row peacekeepers have reported Israeli fire at their positions as Israel wages war on Hezbollah.

None of the Spanish soldiers who were part of the mission were hit, the Spanish Defense Ministry said on Friday.

Spain has deployed 650 peacekeepers in Lebanon and a Spanish general leads the mission.

“Let me at this point criticize and condemn the attacks that the Israeli armed forces are carrying out on the United Nations mission in Lebanon,” Sanchez, whose country has been critical of Israel in the recent escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, said after meeting Pope Francis at the Vatican.

Sanchez said Spain stopped selling weapons to Israel in October 2023 and urged the rest of the world to do the same to prevent further escalation in the region.

“I think it is urgent given what is happening in the Middle East that the international community stops exporting weapons to the Israeli government,” he said.

“I am telling Israel these incidents are intolerable,” the UN chief said.

Guterres warned Israel there must be no repeat of an “intolerable” incident in which its forces fired on peacekeepers in Lebanon, wounding two.

“There was naturally a reaction from many sides in solidarity with the peacekeepers that were wounded and in telling Israel very clearly that this incident is intolerable and cannot be repeated,” Guterres said after talks with Southeast Asian leaders at a summit in Laos.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it was “outraged” by what it said was an Israeli military attack on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon and demanded that Israel refrain from any “hostile actions” against them.

“Moscow is outraged by the actions of the Israeli military,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“The Russian side demands that it refrain from any hostile actions against the UNIFIL peacekeepers carrying out their mission in Lebanon in accordance with the existing mandate of the United Nations Security Council, and expresses its support and wishes the wounded a speedy recovery,” it said.

China statement

“China expresses grave concern and strong condemnation over the Israeli Defense Forces’ attack on UNIFIL positions and observation posts, which resulted in injuries to UNIFIL personnel,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said, referring to the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon.

UN peacekeepers said Israeli fire on their headquarters in south Lebanon Thursday left two Blue Helmets injured, sparking condemnation from European members of the mission.

Israel acknowledged its forces had opened fire in the area, saying the Hezbollah militants on whom it is waging an escalating war operate near UN posts.

Italy: This is a war crime

Israeli forces have acted illegally by shooting at positions used by UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said on Thursday, denouncing it as a possible war crime.

The UN peacekeeping mission known as UNIFIL is stationed in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the demarcation line with Israel — an area that has seen serious clashes between Israeli troops and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters.

“This was not a mistake and not an accident,” Crosetto told a news conference. “It could constitute a war crime and represented a very serious violation of international humanitarian law,” he said.

Crosetto said he had contacted his Israeli counterpart to protest and had also summonsed the Israeli ambassador to Italy to demand an explanation, which was not yet forthcoming.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Unlike some European countries, Italy has been highly supportive of Israel throughout its year-long war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Italy has traditionally supplied a large number of troops to UNIFIL, and although none of its contingent was injured this week, Crosetto said the Israeli actions would not be accepted.

Israel has sought to shift the UNIFIL peacekeepers away from the border, but Italy said it had no right to do so.

“I told the ambassador to tell the Israeli government that the United Nations and Italy cannot take orders from the Israeli government,” Crosetto said.

Israel acknowledged its forces had opened fire in the area, saying the Hezbollah militants on whom it is waging an escalating war operate near UN posts.

Italy, a major contributor of troops to the force, said the acts “could constitute war crimes” while Washington said it was “deeply concerned.”

UNIFIL, which has about 10,000 peacekeepers stationed in south Lebanon, has called for a ceasefire since an escalation between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on September 23, after a year of cross-border fire.