Madrid (QNN)- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Monday that Russia and Israel both spread and amplified disinformation surrounding last month's mass entry of migrants into Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta.
Russia and Israel both spread and amplified disinformation related to the mass entry of migrants into Spain's North African exclave of Ceuta last month, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday, citing research by the European Union's foreign policy body, the European External Action Service (EEAS).
"After July 30 and 31, there was a spread of rumours and disinformation, from social networks linked both to Russia and to Israel, and to an ultra-right international that always uses migration not only to attack Spain, but also to attack Europe and divide it," Sanchez told Cadena Ser radio.
Sanchez said it was "evident" that Israel and Russia had used the crisis to criticise the Spanish government, over Madrid’s opposition to the assault on Ukraine and the Middle East, inclduong Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.
The prime minister also ruled out any responsibility on the part of the Moroccan authorities in the sudden influx of migrants who arrived to Ceuta.
"No intelligence service with which the Spanish government normally cooperates sheds any doubt, or rather, suggests any doubt, about the involvement in one way or another of the Moroccan authorities," he said.
The vast majority of the roughly 70,000 people who entered Ceuta have since been returned to Morocco, according to Spanish authorities.
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir himself seized on the migration crisis unfolding in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta to renew his call for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, sarcastically urging Spain to take in Palestinians expelled from the Strip.
In a post addressed to Sanchez, Ben-Gvir offered mock congratulations for what he called Sanchez's commitment to welcoming immigration and "human diversity." He went on to call on the Spanish leader to open the doors of Spain and grant refuge to the residents of Gaza who, in his words, seek to emigrate, framing it as a chance for Spain to add to its "human diversity."
The message was a thinly veiled push for the forced displacement of Palestinians, dressed up as a taunt aimed at a government that has been among the sharpest European critics of Israel's genocide in Gaza.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, wasted no time in taking to X to whine that “Spain, which never misses an opportunity to lecture Israel, has declared a state of emergency in Ceuta following the crisis over its immigration policy.”
In his X post, Danon went on to say that “maybe before [Spain] continues lecturing us, it’s time it explained to the world why it still maintains colonial enclaves in Africa.”
In response to Danon’s tantrum on X, Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente wrote: “Well, everything is getting to be pretty clear” – referring to the fact that Israel had a hand in the mass influx of migrants into Ceuta as punishment for Spain’s position.
