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Akbar Novruz

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Israel has summoned Spain’s chargé d’affaires in Tel Aviv following remarks by Spanish Youth and Children Minister Sira Rego expressing support for a Palestinian state “from the river to the sea,” according to Israeli and Spanish media reports.

Rego made the remarks on Thursday during an event in Madrid at which newly appointed Palestinian Ambassador to Spain Fadi Elhusseini was presented.

“The position of Spanish society is clear ... for a free Palestine from the river to the sea,” Rego said, according to Spanish news agency Europa Press.

During the event, the Spanish minister also called for an end to diplomatic and commercial relations between Spain and Israel.

The phrase “from the river to the sea,” referring to the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, is politically contested. Some Palestinian advocates use it as a call for Palestinian freedom and equal rights across the territory, while Israeli officials and critics interpret it as rejecting Israel’s continued existence as a Jewish state.