Spain tells EU to shield ICC, UN over Gaza genocide

Spain’s leader has called on Brussels to take concrete action safeguarding international judicial bodies from political pressure as Israel’s war on Gaza continues. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez demanded on Wednesday that the European Commission deploy the Anti-Coercion Instrument specifically to shield the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the United Nations, along with their efforts to halt the ongoing genocide in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Sanchez: EU cannot look away

Writing on social media platform X, Sanchez declared that Spain “will not look the other way” and warned that punishing those who uphold international justice puts the entire human rights framework at risk. “The EU cannot remain a bystander in the face of this persecution,” he added. His remarks come as Gaza’s Health Ministry reports more than 72,600 Palestinians killed — mostly women and children — and over 172,000 injured since October 2023. Although a ceasefire has nominally been in place since last October, Israel has consistently blocked agreed-upon humanitarian aid from reaching the territory, where roughly 2.4 million people, including 1.5 million displaced, face catastrophic conditions.