Spain has expressed its support for maintaining European Union measures against Israel, despite recent agreements between the Jewish state and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. This was stated by Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares upon arriving at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

“We are far from achieving everything we want—final peace, a permanent ceasefire, humanitarian aid, [and] a two-state solution,” the diplomat said. According to him, “it is currently necessary to uphold sanctions” against Israel.

In September, the European Commission proposed a full package of measures against Israel in response to its actions in the Gaza Strip. The package includes suspending certain trade provisions of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, particularly revoking preferential access for Israeli goods to the European market.