Tens of thousands of people in Spain protested against Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, five days after a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel. TASR informs about it according to the report of the DPA agency.
- Spain held protests against Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip.
- The riots included damage to property and interventions by security forces.
- Demonstrators also targeted the basketball team from Israel.
- Protests took place in several Spanish cities.
- Spain applied harsh critical measures against Israeli policy.
Some masked protesters in Barcelona broke the windows of cafes and fast food restaurants. According to the protesters, they had a connection to Israel, state TV RTVE reported. Demonstrators also set fire to several large plastic containers for household waste. Riots also occurred in front of the Israeli consulate.
RTVE also reported that clashes with police had occurred earlier when protesters tried to prevent the Hapoel Jerusalem basketball team from leaving the train station. The Israeli team was supposed to play a match without spectators against the Spanish club Baxi Manresa. The police used tear gas against the protesterswho threw bottles and other objects at her.
Demonstrations were also held in other major cities, including Madrid, Bilbao, Valencia and Seville. Apart from slight delays in public transport and short interruptions in television broadcasts, they were not no serious disturbances to public life reported.
Spain is one of the harshest critics of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip within the European Union. The country imposed an arms embargo on Israel and issued an entry ban on members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez previously accused Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.
