Barcelona cuts ties with Tel Aviv

According to Euronews, a statement supported by socialist groups from the Barcelona City Council condemned the Israeli regime’s attacks on Palestinian civilians and the forced displacement of Gaza’s population.

The statement also called on the organizers of the Barcelona exhibition to exclude booths belonging to the Tel Aviv regime, arms manufacturing companies, and other entities that "profit from the genocide, occupation, apartheid, and colonization of the Palestinian people."

The cancellation of the "friendship agreement" and sister-city relationship between Barcelona and Tel Aviv, established in 1998, was approved by a majority vote until "respect for international law and international humanitarian law" is restored in Palestine.

As highlighted in a report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, this key Spanish city ensures no municipal relations exist with private companies illegally operating in Israeli settlements. It will also take measures to prevent ships linked to arms trafficking with Israel from docking at Barcelona’s port.

The City Council will request Spain’s Congress to advance the process of reviewing a proposed law to impose an immediate arms embargo on the Israeli regime. Barcelona also urged the central Spanish government and Catalonia to pressure Israel for an immediate ceasefire.

City officials committed to continuing cooperation with UNRWA to provide humanitarian aid and establish direct collaboration to support Gaza’s reconstruction.

Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni stated that the levels of "destruction and oppression" caused by Israel’s repeated attacks on Gaza and the "extent of suffering" due to the invasion and "indiscriminate mass killings" make "any relationship" between the Spanish city and Tel Aviv "unsustainable."

He emphasized: "With this statement, Barcelona declares that Gaza belongs to the Palestinians; Gaza is the land of the Palestinians."

This is not the first time Barcelona has moved to suspend ties with the Israeli regime. In 2023, then-mayor Ada Colau took similar actions, which were later overturned by a court decision month afterward.

Nevertheless, this key Spanish city’s action can be seen in the context of growing international criticism of the Israeli regime’s crimes in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas praised the Barcelona City Council’s decision to cut ties with the Israeli regime’s cabinet.

According to Al Jazeera, Hamas stated: "We commend the Barcelona City Council’s decision to sever ties with the Israeli regime’s cabinet and suspend the friendship agreement with the Tel Aviv municipality."

The Palestinian movement added: "We encourage countries worldwide to boycott and cut ties with the occupying regime, isolate it, and punish it for the killing of women and children and the starvation of the Palestinian people."