CAIRO, JERUSALEM: Israel said on Friday it had blocked Spain from participating in the work of a US-led center established to help stabilize post-war Gaza following the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The Civil-Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat was established after the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10 to monitor the truce and facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid into Palestinian territory.
As part of the CMCC, military personnel and diplomats from several other countries, including France, Britain, and the UAE, are also present and participate in meetings on security and humanitarian issues in Gaza, devastated by more than two years of war. Representatives of Spain have also participated in CMCC’s work to date.
But on Friday, Israel’s Foreign Ministry announced it was preventing Spain from attending CMCC meetings. “The Sanchez government’s anti-Israel bias is so egregious that it has lost all capability
to serve as a constructive actor in implementing President Trump’s peace plan in the CMCC,” Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in a statement.
“Spain will not be permitted to participate in the CMCC in Kiryat Gat.” Relations between Israel and Spain have deteriorated significantly since Madrid recognized a Palestinian state in 2024.
Both countries have withdrawn their ambassadors.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has been one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s war on Gaza, which broke out after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
He had also opposed the US-Israeli military strikes on Iran that began on Feb. 28.
Sarr has previously accused the Spanish government of “standing with tyrants” by opposing the US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
Spain only established diplomatic ties with Israel in 1986, following the death of Gen. Francisco Franco in 1975. Under Franco, Spain avoided recognizing Israel and maintained closer diplomatic ties with Arab states.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also accused Spain of waging a diplomatic campaign against Israel. “Israel will not remain silent in the face of those who attack us,” Netanyahu said.
“I am not prepared to tolerate this hypocrisy and hostility. I will not allow any country to conduct a diplomatic war against us without facing an immediate price,” he said, referring to the decision to bar Madrid from the CMCC.
Meanwhile, sources told Reuters that Donald Trump’s Board of Peace has received only a tiny fraction of the $17 billion pledged for Gaza, preventing the US president from pushing ahead with his plan for the shattered Palestinian enclave’s future.
The funding pledges were also meant to pay for the activities of a nascent National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, a US-backed group of Palestinian technocrats intended to assume control of Gaza from Hamas.
One of the sources, a person with direct knowledge of the peace board’s operations, said that out of 10 countries that pledged funds, only three — the UAE, Morocco, and the US itself — had contributed.
The source said that funding so far was under $1 billion, but did not provide further details.
The Iran war “has affected everything,” exacerbating previous funding difficulties, the source said.
NCAG could not enter Gaza due to both funding and security issues, the source added.
Even after a ceasefire was agreed last October, Israeli attacks have killed at least 700 people in Gaza, according to health officials there.
The second source, a Palestinian official familiar with the matter, said the board informed Hamas and other Palestinian factions that NCAG is unable to enter Gaza right now due to a lack of funding.
“No money is currently available,” the official cited board envoy Nickolay Mladenovas as saying to Palestinian groups.
Hamas has repeatedly said it is ready to hand over governance to NCAG, led by Ali Shaath, a former deputy minister with the Palestinian Authority, which currently exercises limited self-rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Shaath’s committee is meant to assume control of Gaza’s ministries and run its police force.
He and his 14 committee members have been cloistered in a Cairo hotel under the supervision of American and Egyptian handlers, said a diplomatic source.
Rehabilitation of Gaza, where four-fifths of buildings were destroyed in two years of Israeli bombardments, has been projected by global institutions to cost around $70 billion.
