Spain turns away ship carrying arms to occupied territories

Spain has turned away a ship carrying arms to the occupied territories amid the Israeli regime’s ongoing genocidal war against the Gaza Strip.

Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares announced the development on Thursday.

"This is the first time we have done this because it is the first time we have detected a ship carrying a shipment of arms to Israel that wants to call at a Spanish port," he told reporters in Brussels.

Transport Minister Oscar Puente identified the vessel as Marianne Danica, which had requested permission to berth at the southeastern Spanish port of Cartagena on May 21.

The country’s El Pais newspaper, meanwhile, reported that the Danish-flagged ship was carrying 27 tons of explosive material from Madras in India to the port of Haifa in the occupied territories.

‘Consistent policy’

Adding to his remarks, Albares said, "This will be a consistent policy with any ship carrying arms to Israel that wants to call at Spanish ports.”

“The foreign ministry will systematically reject such stopovers for one obvious reason. The Middle East does not need more weapons, it needs more peace," he noted.

The remarks came as the Israeli regime presses on with the war that it launched against Gaza on October 7 last year following a retaliatory operation by the coastal sliver’s resistance movements.

The overall death toll from the brutal military onslaught has reached 35,272 people, most of them women and children. Some 79,205 others have also been wounded.

The figures exclude the tens of thousands of dead, who are believed to be buried in the bombed-out ruins of buildings.

Spain has been one of Europe's most critical voices about the war.

Spain says Israel’s ‘disproportionate’ attacks in Gaza threaten whole world

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was speaking to the Spanish lawmakers on Wednesday.

It halted arms sales to the Tel Aviv regime after the latter launched the aggression.

The country has also been working to rally other European capitals behind the idea of recognizing a Palestinian state.

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