READ HERE: Spain has reiterated a call for the bloc to rethink its Association Agreement with the Jewish state amid human rights concerns

The EU must consider suspending its free trade agreement with Israel in light of alleged human rights abuses by the Jewish state, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday. Sanchez has already called on the international community to halt arms sales to Israel.

Spain and Ireland formally urged the European Commission to review the EU-Israel Association Agreement in February, amid the conflict in Gaza and widespread concern about possible breaches of international human rights law by Israel. Brussels has yet to respond.

“The European Commission must respond once and for all to the formal request made by two European countries to suspend the association agreement with Israel if it is found, as everything suggests, that human rights are being violated,” Sanchez stated at an event on Monday.

Additionally, the Spanish leader condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demands that the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) withdraw from the combat zone. “There is not going to be a withdrawal of UNIFIL,” Sanchez stressed, criticizing Israeli attacks on peacekeepers.