The head of government, Pedro Sánchez, will meet this Thursday in Madrid with the Palestinian president, Mahmud Abbas, a meeting that is the first between the two since Spain recognized Palestine as a state and in which they will analyze the situation in Gaza and the escalation of tensions in the Middle East.
An escalation that counts among its most recent sources of tension the series of explosions of communications devices associated with Hezbollah in Lebanon and for which the Shiite group accuses Israel. Sánchez and Abás They have maintained many contacts in recent years both by telephone and face to face at some international events and during the visit that the Head of the Executive made to Ramallah last year, as part of a tour of several countries following the Hamas attacks on Israeli territory on October 7 last year.
But Thursday’s meeting has particular symbolism because it is the first time Abbas has arrived in Spain after the government formalized recognition of Palestine as a state. That same week, the Palestinian ambassador to Spain, Husni Abdelwahed, He handed over his credentials to the king, and after this act, it was he who announced the visit of Abbas.
He receives him at Moncloa
Sanchez to receive Palestinian president at Moncloa Palaceand both will address the situation in Gaza and the possibilities of getting out of the conflict. To this end, the Prime Minister assured that the only possible way is a two-state solution, recognition by the entire international community of Israel and Palestine, and that is why he called for dialogue and the organization of an international conference. Let him move forward on this way out.
An exit that was at the center of the meeting they held last Friday in Madrid. several representatives from European and Arab countries, mostly foreign ministers, to analyze the situation in the Middle East. In the same vein, the Palestinian ambassador said that during his meeting with Felipe VI on Monday, the king conveyed to him the desire to reach a political path that guarantees that Palestine is an independent and sovereign state that coexists with other countries, as well as to achieve a peaceful and rapid solution that will at least put an end to the suffering and deaths in the Gaza Strip.
Abbas will be able to personally thank Sánchez for Spain’s decision to recognize Palestine on May 28, in the midst of the Israeli offensive on Gaza, with the 1967 borders. A decision that Spain adopted in coordination with Ireland and Norway and which provoked a harsh response from the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Sánchez’s visit to Ramallah to meet with Abbas took place on November 23, and during that conversation he also defended the common fight against terrorism after the Hamas attacks of October 7.
Both then raised the possibility of the Palestinian National Authority taking control of Gaza once the conflict ends, which is what the prime minister advocates. Spanish in the roadmap that he says should lead topeaceThe head of the Executive and the Palestinian president can talk about it again today, which will bring forward the call for a high-level bilateral summit in Madrid between the two governments before the end of the year.
