Spain Signs Support For UN Mission To Stabilize Gaza Strip

Illustration of Indonesian UN troops. (Wikimedia Commons/Jason Shepherd/US Army)

JAKARTA - Spain on Wednesday signaled support for the international coalition under the mandate of the United Nations to stabilize Gaza delivered by French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday.

The presence of a UN-led mission is referred to as "one of the tools" that can bring peace to the region.

President Macron said on Monday the UN mission would be tasked with securing the Gaza Strip, protecting civilians, and working to support the unnamed Palestinian government.

He said the UN Security Council should work to establish the mission, while France would also cooperate with its partners.

"The proposal is one of the tools that can help achieve peace and security in Gaza and the Middle East, as is the work of UNRWA as a UN agency for assistance to the Palestinian people," the Spanish ministry said in an email reply to a question from Reuters. August 13th.

"This troop should be a step towards the construction of a two-state solution," the Spanish ministry added, referring to the idea of realizing peace through the formation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel in territory Israel captured in the 1967 war.

Spain is a sharp critic of Israel's war on Gaza and last year joined several European Union countries in recognizing the Palestinian state, a group now followed by France.

By proposing a mission mandated by the United Nations in Gaza, President Macron seeks to build momentum created by his recognition of the Palestinian state last month, prompting a series of other recognitions, with Britain, Canada, and Australia announcing plans to follow suit next month.

Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the UN's interim mission could ultimately contribute to the successful transfer of power to the Palestinian state government and to achieve peace and security for all.

President Macron's proposal comes amid Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to carry out operations to control the Gaza Strip militarily. President Macron said he had asked his team to work immediately with French partners.

Indonesia itself has expressed its readiness to send peacekeepers to Gaza, as President Prabowo Subianto and Foreign Minister Sugiono said.

"Pak Prabowo has stated that we are ready if it is necessary and asked to help with such missions," said Chief Expert of the Presidential Communication Office Philips J. Vermonte on the sidelines of a discussion held by the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday, adding that he had not received any information on whether President Prabowo had made contact with President Macron regarding the UN mission to Gaza.