The Spanish Prosecutor’s Office will investigate whether Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza, the Attorney General confirmed on Thursday. They will also be cooperating with cases already opened at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The move highlights Spain’s growing role in pushing international scrutiny of Israel’s military campaign in the Palestinian enclave, launched after Hamas’s unprecedented assault on Israel in October 2023. Madrid has been one of the most outspoken critics of the offensive.
According to a statement from his office, Spain’s chief prosecutor, Álvaro García Ortiz, has ‘issued a decree to create a working team tasked with investigating violations of international human rights law in Gaza’. ALSO READ: Spain’s Supreme Court confirms trial of country’s Attorney General will go ahead.
The team will ‘gather evidence and make it available to the competent body, thereby fulfilling Spain’s obligations regarding international cooperation and human rights’, the decree explained.
It further stressed that ‘faced with the current situation in the Palestinian territories, all evidence, direct or indirect, that can be gathered in our country’ on ‘crimes committed’ in Gaza ‘must be included’ for possible submission to the ICC.
The statement cited a Spanish police report documenting ‘acts that could constitute crimes against the international community’ carried out by the Israeli army in Gaza.
The ICC has already sought arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the Gaza campaign.
Separately, Spain has also joined proceedings before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where Israel stands accused of committing genocide in Gaza. ALSO READ: Spain asks to join South Africa’s case at UN court accusing Israel of genocide.
Both Hague-based courts have come under heavy fire from Israel and its allies. In February, the United States imposed sanctions on the ICC, alleging it had ‘abused its power’ in pursuing Netanyahu’s case. Israel, meanwhile, disputes the tribunal’s jurisdiction, despite its 125 member states.
The diplomatic rift between Madrid and Tel Aviv has deepened over the conflict. Israel withdrew its ambassador from Spain last year after Madrid recognised a Palestinian state. ALSO READ: Felipe VI denounces ‘unspeakable suffering’ and ‘total devastation’ of Gaza.
More recently, Spain recalled its own ambassador from Tel Aviv after Israel’s foreign minister accused Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government of antisemitism. Sánchez had earlier defended new measures designed, in his words, to ‘stop the genocide in Gaza’. ALSO READ: Netanyahu accuses Sánchez of ‘blatant genocidal threat’ against Israel.
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El fiscal general ordena investigar los crímenes de Israel en Gaza y apunta a genocidio y otros delitos de lesa humanidad.
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