Sánchez: “Unacceptable” Israel’s explanation for the attack on Gaza

Doha. The president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, harshly criticized the Israeli government on Wednesday, calling its explanation for the death of seven aid workers in the Gaza Strip “absolutely unacceptable” and “insufficient.”

“To us it seems insufficient (…) the supposed clarifications made by the prime minister [israelí Benjamin] Netanyahu about what happened in Gaza and with the NGO of chef José Andrés,” said Sánchez during a press conference in Doha, in the final stage of his tour of three countries in the region.

Netanyahu admitted on Tuesday that these seven people were killed in an “unintentional” Israeli bombing in Gaza, which he called a “tragic incident.”

“This happens in a war (…), we are in contact with the governments and we will do everything possible to prevent it from happening again,” he added.

The Israeli army stated, for its part, that the attack was “a serious mistake.”

These explanations did not convince Sánchez, however, who stated that he expected “a much more detailed, much more detailed clarification of what the causes were (…) also taking into account that, from what is known so far, the Israeli government knew of the action and itinerary of this NGO on the ground in Gaza.

Sánchez considered, therefore, “absolutely unacceptable” and “insufficient” the explanation given so far by Netanyahu, although he did not specify the actions that Spain could take in response.

The seven victims (three aid workers, their three security advisors and a Palestinian driver-interpreter) worked for the American NGO World Central Kitchen.

This organization – which delivered food in the Palestinian territory, threatened by famine – was founded by the famous Spanish-American chef José Andrés, whom Sánchez called on Tuesday morning from Jordan to express his regret for what had happened.

Since the start of the conflict in Gaza on October 7, the socialist president of the Spanish government became the most critical voice towards Netanyahu within the European Union, which led to a brief diplomatic crisis between the two countries in November.