Hamas hails Barcelona's decision to suspend ties with Israel

By Abdul Jabbar Aburas

ISTANBUL (AA) – The Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Saturday praised Barcelona city council's decision to suspend relations with Tel Aviv, calling it a "courageous stance" against Israel's war on the Gaza Strip.

“We call on cities around the world to follow what the Barcelona city council did as a victory for humanity and the values of freedom and justice, the right of peoples to self-determination, and a rejection of the massacres of the Zionist-Nazi occupation against children and defenseless civilians,” Hamas said in a statement on Telegram.

The Barcelona city council approved a declaration on Friday suspending relations with Israel until there is a permanent cease-fire in Gaza and the country "respects the basic rights of the Palestinian people."

This is not the first time Barcelona has cut ties with Israel.

In Feb. 2023, then-Mayor Ada Colau suspended the city’s relationship with Israel and the twin city agreement with Tel Aviv.

Other high-profile members of Spain’s national government, including former minister and current MP Ione Belarra, have called for the country as a whole to also cut ties with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

However, that is not the government's stance as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez traveled to Israel and Palestine to meet with his local counterparts on Thursday.

*Writing by Ziad Aslan