Suspension of relations between the city of Barcelona and Israel
Barcelona City Council announced in a statement on Friday that it would suspend relations with Israel until a permanent ceasefire is established in the Gaza Strip.
Friday's statement was presented by the left-wing Barcelona with Cuomo party and supported by the Socialist Party of Cobboni, as well as the left-wing separatist party RC. This statement condemns all attacks by Hamas and Israel against civilians, as well as any collective punishment, forced displacement, systematic destruction of homes and civilian infrastructure, and the blockade of energy, water, food and medical equipment in the Gaza Strip. In addition, other senior members of the Spanish national government, including former minister and current congressional representative Ione Belarra, have asked the Spanish government to sever ties with the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This is not the first time that the city of Barcelona has cut ties with Israel. In February 2023, former mayor Ada Colau suspended the city's ties and any contracts with Israel. Finally, after Israel's nearly 50-day war against the Gaza Strip, a four-day temporary ceasefire was established as of Friday.
The truce was supposed to be implemented on Thursday at 10 a.m. local time, but due to technical and logistical problems it was implemented one day later on Friday morning (November 24) in the Gaza Strip. According to the truce, any fighting on both sides must cease. It was also decided that for every Israeli hostage, three Palestinian women and children would be released. In addition, the parties agreed to deliver 200 trucks with food and medical equipment to all areas of the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian resistance, in response to more than seventy years of occupation and aggression by the Zionist regime against the inhabitants of Gaza and other areas of the occupied territories, launched Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the regime on October 7. As usual, the Zionist regime responded to the operations of the resistance fighters with massacres of civilians and bombing of residential areas. Ultimately, this regime admitted the failure of the operation to free the captives and surrendered to the resistance.
