Spanish minister accuses Israel of committing 'live genocide' in Gaza

Spanish Social Rights Minister Ione Belarra has accused Israel of carrying out a "live genocide" in Gaza, in the latest criticism of the war on the Palestinian enclave.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Belarra said she "didn't want to be an accomplice" to Israel’s indiscriminate attacks on the besieged Palestinian enclave, which have so far killed over 11,400 people, most of them women and children.

The Spanish minister, who also leads the left-wing Podemos party, pointed to recent horrors suffered by the people of Gaza.

She mentioned the removal of premature babies from their incubators after fuel ran out in the Al-Shifa Hospital, which is surrounded by Israeli forces and the deliberate targeting of ambulances by Israel.

We are witnessing a live genocide by the State of Israel in Palestine, and I don't want to be an accomplice. Today it's Palestine, tomorrow it could be anyone.

That's why I ask you to support by signing the initiative https://t.co/kS9KJ3mXNq#ICCJusticeForGaza pic.twitter.com/dlmGL1WSQu

— Ione Belarra (@ionebelarra) November 14, 2023

"Thousands of people left under the rubble. Thousands of individuals brutally killed by the criminal state of Israel, many of them children. We are witnessing a live genocide," she said.

Belarra called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "and his political leadership" to be brought to the International Criminal Court (ICC), saying that over 60 MPs in Europe and Latin America were joining her in efforts to do this.

Last month, Belarra accused Israel of carrying out a "planned genocide" against Gaza after it began indiscriminate strikes on the besieged territory following Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel on 7 October, which killed an estimated 1,200 Israelis.

Israel later issued a statement accusing "certain elements" within the Spanish government were aligning with Hamas, without naming Belarra.