The Israeli government has announced the expulsion of Spanish representatives from the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC), which monitors the Gaza ceasefire. Benjamin Netanyahu accused Spain of waging a 'diplomatic war' against Israel and warned it will 'pay a price'. The decision comes amid rising diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Friday the exclusion of Spain from the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) in Kiryat Gat, a multinational body monitoring the Gaza Strip ceasefire reached last October. 'I will not allow any country to wage a diplomatic war against us without paying an immediate price for it,' Netanyahu stated in a video released today. He accused Pedro Sánchez's government of 'defaming' Israel Defense Forces soldiers and maintaining an 'anti-Israel bias'.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar justified the move, stating the Spanish executive has lost 'all capacity to serve as a useful actor' in implementing Donald Trump's peace plan. Spain was formally notified, and the United States was informed in advance. The CMCC, under US Central Command, includes representatives from about 20 countries and coordinates humanitarian aid to Gaza.
From Madrid, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez urged the EU to suspend the association agreement with Israel over 'flagrant violations of international humanitarian law'. 'Let us not allow a new Gaza in Lebanon,' Sánchez said at the European Pulse Forum. Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares called the Israeli accusations 'absurd and slanderous'.
The decision escalates the diplomatic dispute, worsened by the US-Israel war against Iran, Spain's reopening of its embassy in Tehran, and Spanish criticism of Israeli attacks in Lebanon.
