These are "nine additional actions" to those Spain has taken in the last two years, such as the recognition of the State of Palestine in May 2024, to "stop the genocide in Gaza, pursue its perpetrators, and support the Palestinian population," Sánchez said in a statement at the Spanish government headquarters in Madrid. The first measure will be "the urgent approval" of a decree-law by the government "that legally consolidates" the arms purchase and sale embargo against Israel, specifically establishing "the legal and permanent prohibition" on the purchase and sale of "armaments, ammunition, and military equipment to Israel," he said, after emphasizing that Spain has already been "de facto" applying this embargo since October 2023.

Among the other measures announced by the leader of the Spanish government are increased support for the Palestinian Authorities, humanitarian aid for Gaza, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), as well as a ban on entry into Spain "of all those who directly participate in the genocide, human rights violations, and war crimes in the Gaza Strip."

The nine measures, which "will be implemented immediately," also include a ban on transit through Spanish ports of "all vessels carrying fuel destined for the Israeli Armed Forces" and a ban on national airspace for "aircraft of states carrying defence material destined for Israel."

Spain will also prohibit the import of products from Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories and limit consular assistance to Spanish nationals living in the same settlements to the "mandatory minimum." In both cases, the aim is to "combat these occupations, stop the forced displacement of the Palestinian civilian population, and keep the two-state solution [Palestine and Israel] alive, which is the only solution."

Spain also expects to reach 150 million euros in humanitarian aid to Gaza by 2026, as well as increase its contribution to UNRWA by another 10 million euros. The Spanish government will also increase the number of personnel at the European Union Border Assistance Mission in Rafah and promote "new collaboration projects with the Palestinian Authority in the areas of agriculture, food security, and medical assistance."

"We know that all these measures will not be enough to stop the invasion or war crimes, but we hope they will serve to increase pressure on the Israeli government, alleviate some of the suffering of the Palestinian population, and allow Spanish society to know and feel that, faced with one of the most infamous episodes in 21st-century history, their country was on the right side of history," said Pedro Sánchez.

The Spanish government leader began his statement by recalling the "countless persecutions and injustices" to which the Jewish people have been subjected throughout history, "including the most atrocious of all, the Holocaust," and affirmed that Spain condemned "from day one" the Islamist group Hamas's attack on Israel in October 2023 and "will always support Israel's right to exist and guarantee its security."

"But it is one thing to protect the country and society, and quite another to bomb hospitals and starve innocent boys and girls to death," he added, before emphasizing that the United Nations rapporteur and "most experts" classify Israel's military offensive in the Palestinian territory of Gaza as genocide.

"This is not defending oneself, nor is it even attacking. It is exterminating a defenceless people," said the Spanish prime minister, who lamented the international community's inability to "stop this tragedy," perhaps because the world's great powers have become trapped between indifference in the face of an unending conflict and complicity with [Israeli] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The ongoing war in Gaza began when Hamas attacked Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, causing 1,200 deaths and taking 251 hostages.

Israeli retaliation has already left more than 64,000 Palestinians dead, according to data from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, considered reliable by the UN.

The United Nations declared a famine in some areas of the enclave last month.