LONDON: Israel’s “abhorrent acts” in Gaza “offend human conscience and shame the entire international community,” Spain’s King Felipe VI told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.

“A world without rules amounts to uncharted territory … It’s a return to the Middle Ages,” he said. “Believing in the UN is also believing in a rules-based world. Rules shape behaviors to which the vast majority of international actors adhere. Even when they’re breached, they provide a basis for accountability and enforcement,” he added.

“Rules are the voice of reason used in international relations. They’re the best defense against the law of the strongest.”

Referring to Gaza, King Felipe said: “We can’t remain silent or look away from the devastation. The bombings — including of hospitals, schools and places of refuge — the countless civilian deaths, famine, starvation, the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of people — to what end? These are abhorrent acts that stand in stark contrast to everything that this forum represents.”

He added: “We … cry out, we implore, we demand: Stop this massacre now. No more deaths in the name of a people who are so wise and ancient, who’ve suffered so greatly throughout history.”

Condemning the “heinous” Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023, and urging the release of hostages, he nonetheless insisted that Israel must “fully uphold international humanitarian law throughout Gaza and the West Bank,” adding: “The international community must shoulder its responsibility to achieve as soon as possible a viable solution that would include the existence of two states, to which Spain added its voice.”

Spain recognized Palestine in May 2024, and this week approved a total arms embargo on Israel, halting all defense-related imports, exports and military-use goods, as well as blocking the transit of aircraft fuel with possible military applications.