The Spanish should not go to Lebanon. Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares demanded, before the meeting of the European Union Foreign Affairs at the UN, “respect for human rights, for international law, which is in danger in the Middle East.”
“War is looming over us and today we receive news that dismays us and that we deeply condemn,” Albares said: “In response to unacceptable events, such as the launching of rockets by Hezbollah, Lebanon has today recorded the highest number of human deaths in 30 years.”
Albares added: “We condemn the bombings that are currently taking place and that have caused hundreds of deaths and more than a thousand injuries. The war must stop. We must all join forces so that Europe can be a voice of peace, a voice of respect for human rights, a voice of respect for international humanitarian law that requires a distinction to be made between civilians and terrorist targets.”
“We cannot allow, as we see in the images that reach us today, that innocent children, men and women perish under the bombs,” said Albares, who announced: “We have advised against any Spaniard going to Lebanon, unless it is strictly necessary, as well as those who currently live in Lebanon, the Spanish colony where it is currently located, to leave the country by existing commercial means.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs recalled that “Spain is participating with its troops and with a general at the head of UNIFIL in the United Nations peace effort in southern Lebanon. “Our troops have high morale and continue to fulfill this high mission of peacekeeping in Lebanon and throughout the Middle East.”
