Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Sunday stood by his claims of a retaliatory offensive against Gaza that had angered Israel, saying it was “a question of humanity”, AFP reported.

Visiting the Rafah checkpoint in Egypt on Friday with his Belgian counterpart Alexandre De Croo, Sanchez said the “indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians” in the Palestinian territories was “absolutely unacceptable”, a position echoed by the Belgian leader.

Both called for a lasting ceasefire.

Israel immediately announced it would summon the two countries’ ambassadors to formally protest, accusing the two leaders of “supporting terrorism.”

Pedro Sánchez responded to the accusations on Sunday at a meeting of the Socialist Party in Madrid.

“Condemning the heinous attacks of a terrorist group like Hamas and at the same time condemning the indiscriminate killing of Palestinians in Gaza is not a political or ideological issue, but a humanitarian issue,” he said, according to Agerpres.

His foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albarez, said on television Friday that he had called Israel’s ambassador in Madrid to formally protest Israel’s accusations.

According to Israeli authorities, 1,200 people, the vast majority of them civilians, were killed when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, the most unprecedented act of violence in the country’s history.

In response, Israel vowed to “eliminate” Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel, by relentlessly bombing Palestinian territory and launching a ground offensive on October 27 before a cease-fire began on Friday. .

According to the Hamas government, almost 15,000 people have died in Gaza as a result of Israeli strikes.