MADRID (Dispatches) – The first Palestinian ambassador to Spain presented his credentials on Monday to Spanish King Felipe VI after Madrid in May formally recognized a Palestinian state.
The head of state welcomed Husni Abdel Wahed to the royal palace in Madrid for the traditional ceremony for newly appointed foreign ambassadors to Spain, according to images published by the royal palace on social network X.
Wahed had been the head of the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Madrid since 2022 and he enjoyed a similar status to that of an ambassador but he officially changed rank after Spain along with Ireland and Norway formally recognized a Palestinian state comprising the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
The three countries said at the time they hoped their decision would spur other European countries to follow suit and accelerate efforts toward securing a ceasefire in the Zionist regime’s war against Palestinians in Gaza.
The Zionist regime was angered by the decision, saying it bolsters Hamas, the resistance movement that led the October 7 retaliatory operation on the Israeli-occupied territories.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, one of the staunchest critics in Europe of the Zionist regime’s genocidal campaign on Gaza, announced earlier this month that a bilateral summit between Spain and Palestine would be held before the end of the year.
Israel’s aggression has so far killed at least 41,226 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the territory.