The king defended this Wednesday a “lasting” ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and that humanitarian aid is facilitated “to the maximum” to serve the population of the Palestinian territory, while demanding the immediate release of the Israeli hostages captured after the attacks on October 7.

Felipe VI, together with Queen Letizia, presided over the reception for the diplomatic corps accredited in Spain at the Royal Palace of Madrid, in which he once again called for a two-state solution, Israel and Palestine. with “mutual security guarantees, full independence and recognized borders.”

In the ceremony held in the Throne Room, the king began his speech by referring to the situation in the Middle East in light of the tragedy in Gaza which, in his opinion, “it is shaking the conscience of humanity”as did the “execrable” terrorist attack committed by Hamas against Israel, which triggered the conflict.

That attack, which gave rise to the military operation deployed by the Israeli Army, deserves the “strongest condemnation”, to which he has added the demand to Hamas to “immediately” release the hostages.

Next, the head of state has asked to facilitate “maximizing humanitarian access to care for the Palestinian population of Gaza and establish a lasting ceasefire,” after more than 26,700 Gazans have died since the start of the conflict, in addition to thousands of displaced people.

The reception of the diplomatic corps was attended by the ambassador of Israel, Rodica Radian-Gordon, and that of Palestine, Husni Abdelwahed, who wore a ‘kufiya’, the typical Palestinian scarf. As he did on the 11th, Felipe VI has once again defended the recognition of Palestine as a State, so that it can coexist with that of Israel. with “mutual security guarantees, full independence and recognized borders.”

A solution that, the monarch recalled, Spain has defended “invariably” since the Madrid Peace Conference of 1991. For this reason, he has encouraged the international community to explore ways for the recognition of the two States to be “assumed, defended and truly applied.”