With US blessing, Israel expels Spain from Gaza military strategy center

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Friday he was ousting Spain from the U.S.-led civil-military strategy center, in charge of maintaining peace in Gaza, following persistent criticism from Spain of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. 

“Israel will not remain silent in the face of those who attack us,” Netanyahu said in a video message posted on X. “Spain has defamed our heroes, the soldiers of the IDF, the soldiers of the most moral army in the world.”

“Those who attack the State of Israel instead of terrorist regimes will not be our partners regarding the future of the region,” he added.

From the start of the war at the end of February, Spain has reaffirmed its criticism of and disinvolvement in strikes against Iran, “categorically” denying claims that Madrid had agreed to cooperate with the U.S. It also restricted the U.S. military from using its air bases for operations against Iran, citing a violation of international law. President Trump threatened to cut off all trade with the European country in response to the air base restrictions. 

At the end of March, Madrid closed its airspace to U.S. use related to the war, forcing U.S. warplanes to reroute to avoid crossing over the country. 

“Spain has been terrible,” Trump told reporters in March, adding that he requested that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent “cut off all dealings” with the country. 

Most recently, Spain this week condemned Israeli attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon that killed at least 200 people and injured more than 1,000, reasserting that the attacks were a violation of both international law and, now, the two-week ceasefire deal reached between the U.S. and Tehran on Tuesday.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called on the European Union to suspend its treaty with Israel following the attacks and blasted Netanyahu on social media.

“His contempt for life and international law is intolerable,” Sánchez wrote on X on Wednesday. 

The U.S. created the multinational Civil-Military Coordination Center, based in Kiryat Gat, in October to see through its peace plan in Gaza. Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said he informed the U.S. of the decision to remove Spain from the center ahead of Israel’s announcement. The center falls under U.S. Central Command.

“Spain’s obsessive anti-Israel bias under Sánchez’s leadership is so severe that it has lost all capacity to play a constructive role in implementing the peace plan of @POTUS and the center operating under the framework of this plan,” he posted on X on Friday. 

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