The Barcelona city council voted on Friday to cut all ties with the current Israeli government, “until respect for international law” and the “basic rights of the Palestinian people” are restored.
The city also suspended its friendship agreement with Tel Aviv that was restored last year by Mayor Jaume Collboni, who reversed his predecessor's decision to sever the twin city agreement that had been in place since 1998 over the war in Gaza.
“The suffering and death in Gaza over the past year and a half, and recent attacks by the Israeli government, make any relationship unviable,” Collboni said.
Hamas issued a statement congratulating the Spanish city for its decision after a motion backed by the governing Socialist party and supported by far-left and pro-independence factions.
The city council's decision includes certain economic measures that are meant to block cooperation with "companies and entities connected to the government in Israel, and identified by the UN as carrying out illegal activity in the occupied territories, while contradicting the Palestinians' civil, economic and cultural rights.
Israeli vendors will not be able to attend the Fira de Barcelona trade fare and the city's port will be asked to ban ships carrying weapons for Israel from docking there.
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