ISTANBUL

Spain's foreign minister on Tuesday strongly defended a two-state solution for Palestine, urging the international community to choose between continued bloodshed or immediate action to implement the only viable path to peace in the Middle East.

Speaking to CNN, Jose Manuel Albares emphasized that the two-state solution is not a foreign imposition but the product of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians themselves.

"It was not Spain or the United Nations that decided about the two-state solution," he said.

"It was Israel and Palestine that negotiated and put the parameters together," he added.

Albares posed a direct question to the global community: "If we all know what's the only solution that will bring justice for the Palestinian people, security for the Israeli people, and peace and stability for everyone in the Middle East, why wouldn't we put it in place?"

He warned that failure to act would mean accepting permanent instability.

"Either we accept that we will always see violence in the Middle East, or we move to the two-state solution," he said.

Spain, alongside Ireland and Norway, formally recognized the State of Palestine in May 2024, a decision met with harsh criticism from Israel but praised by many international actors as a courageous step toward peace.

Albares described the recognition as “a clear bet for peace and stability for everyone in the Middle East.”

Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza for 18 years and, since March 2, has shut down all crossings, blocking the entry of humanitarian aid and worsening conditions for the territory’s 2.4 million population.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 147 people have died of starvation since October 2023, including 88 children.

The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to a severe hunger crisis.

On Monday, Israeli rights groups B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, citing the systematic destruction of Palestinian society and the deliberate dismantling of the territory’s healthcare system.