The Israeli Foreign Ministry has summoned the Spanish ambassador to protest the “sharp comments“ made earlier yesterday by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Agence France-Presse reported, quoted by BTA.
Asked by a member of the Spanish Congress of Deputies whether Spain “does business with a genocidal state like Israel“, Sanchez replied: “We do not do business with a genocidal state“, without mentioning Israel.
Relations between Spain and Israel deteriorated after Madrid, along with Ireland and Norway, recognized the State of Palestine on May 28 last year.
In recent months, Spain has established itself as one of the most critical voices in the European Union regarding the Israeli prime minister's government Benjamin Netanyahu, which has repeatedly drawn the ire of Israel.
The Spanish ambassador is expected to be summoned to Jerusalem today, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement.
Israeli attacks on Gaza this week send a signal that the Jewish state is not interested in a ceasefire agreement, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said in an interview with CNN on Monday, quoted by Reuters and BTA.
He added that the US-backed plan to distribute humanitarian aid to Gaza was not necessary, and noted that the UN should be allowed to deliver aid to the war-torn enclave.
A US judge on Monday ordered the release of an Indian researcher arrested nearly two months ago on the orders of the Donald Trump administration, which accused him of being close to “Hamas“, and wanted to deport him, reported Agence France-Presse, quoted by BTA.
The researcher was released today from a detention center in Texas, reported the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) - two of the non-governmental organizations that defended him during the case.
The non-governmental organizations that supported his request for release welcomed in a statement “another defeat for the Trump administration“, dealt by the courts in its repeated attacks on academia and academic freedom.
Badar Khan Suri, an Indian citizen, was arrested on March 17 outside his home in Virginia, near Washington, where he worked as a researcher in the field of international relations at the prestigious Georgetown University.
His wife, a US citizen, is the daughter of a former high-ranking representative of "Hamas" and the US government have accused her husband of "spreading propaganda" for the Palestinian Islamist group - something his family denies.
The courts quickly blocked any deportation and Badar Khan Suri has been detained by immigration authorities since then.
A federal judge in Virginia, who ruled earlier today, said his detention violated the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which protects freedom of speech, AFP reported.