Spain disapproves of USA's embassy transfer to Jerusalem

Speaking this morning in Sevilla, Alfonso Dastis (pictured right, next to interior minister Juan Ignacio Zoido on the left) also condemned what he called 'disproportionate use of force and violence' on the part of the Israeli Army after 58 Palestinians were killed on the Gaza strip during demonstrations staged by the latter, which the minister said were 'legitimate' under the circumstances.

“The solution to this unpleasant conflict, which has gone on for too many years already, needs to be through negotiations with the aim of creating a State in which Israel feels safe alongside a viable Palestinian State which shares one capital, Jerusalem, as this city is considered holy by three religions,” Dastis said.

The final Statute of Jerusalem should be the result of these 'negotiations', Dastis argued, but not before they take place: “Any decision that pre-empts or conditions this Statute is ill-advised and not, in our view, correct.”

For this reason, Dastis explained, Spain has 'not championed' the USA's decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem, 'rather, the reverse'.

“The USA's decision has been backed by a very limited number of countries, but we are not going to do that and our policy has always been clear in that sense,” Spain's foreign minister stressed.

“What we have done is to call for the use of force and violence to stop, especially where it is out of proportion, and to end the constant deaths and injuries, as we do not believe this is the way forward.

“In order to deal with demonstrations like that of the Palestinians, a certain amount of very limited force may be needed, but using firearms and causing deaths is absolutely unacceptable, naturally.”

The 40,000-strong protest in the Gaza strip over the USA's transferring its embassy to Jerusalem yesterday left 2,771 injured in addition to the 58 dead.