Spanish PM open to sending troops to maintain peace 'in Palestine'
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20260108-spanish-pm-open-to-sending-troops-to-maintain-peace-in-palestine
"I will propose to parliament, when the opportunity presents itself, that we send peacekeeping troops to Palestine, once we can see how to advance this task of pacification," he told a gathering of Spanish ambassadors in Madrid.
"Of course, we have not forgotten Palestine and the Gaza Strip... Spain must actively participate in rebuilding hope in Palestine. The situation there remains intolerable."
Sanchez also reaffirmed Spain's willingness to deploy troops to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal, calling the current moment "critical" and "decisive" for achieving peace there.
"If Spain has sent peacekeeping troops to many regions far from our country, how could we not send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine, a European country?" he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is against having any foreign peacekeeping troops on Ukrainian soil.
At the end of last year, Sanchez called for raising awareness about the "dramatic situation" of Palestinians during a meeting in Madrid with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Charges Dropped Against Nine Arrested at Pro-Palestine Protest
Organizers say these arrests are another example of police overreach and that they are being used as justification for ongoing repression. Toronto police call the arrests “lawful, justified, and reasonable”
Indigenous organizations rallied downtown on Oct. 8 to support Mskwaasin Agnew, a Cree/Dene harm reduction worker. Agnew was kidnapped by the Israeli military while aboard the international Freedom Flotilla ship Conscience, which was attempting to deliver essential medical supplies to Gaza.
Criminal charges against nine people who were arrested during an Indigenous-led, pro-Palestine demonstration in Toronto last fall have been dropped.
The arrests occurred on Oct. 8, 2025, near the Global Affairs Canada office at Queen Street and University Avenue, where hundreds gathered to protest the Israeli kidnapping of Indigenous harm reduction worker and advocate Mskwaasin Agnew and others who were travelling on the Mediterranean Sea as part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition in an attempt to break Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza.
The demonstration had gone on for six hours, organizers say, when Toronto Police became “increasingly agitated,” and attempted to end the protest.
According to a statement shared by the Legal Support Committee (LSC) — a collective that supports people arrested in the Greater Toronto Area for organizing and protesting for the liberation of Palestine— the protest erupted into “chaos” when Inspector Israel Bernardo drove an unmarked vehicle into the crowd.
“Unaware that the vehicle was driven by a police officer, protesters rushed in front of the vehicle to protect attendees — at which point, Bernardo emerged from his vehicle, ordering officers to arrest people,” the statement reads. “Multiple people were tackled and beaten by police.”
In a video shared on Instagram from the Oct. 8 demonstrations, police officers can be seen punching, shoving and dragging protesters.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQIE1FqkYXt
When asked to comment on the incident, Toronto Police spokesperson Stephanie Sayer denied that Bernardo was involved in any wrongdoing, stating that “the actions of all involved officers were lawful, justified, and reasonable.”
Nine people were arrested on the scene, and all were charged with three separate counts: unlawful assembly, obstructing a peace officer, and common nuisance.
On Jan. 6 and Jan. 7, six weeks after the arrestees made their first appearance in court, the charges were dropped.
Toronto police tell The Grind that in court the Crown stated that it withdrew the charges “for lack of public interest based on the need to be judicious with respect to the use of court resources.” The Crown added that it believed “there were reasonable and probable grounds for these arrests, but in the specific circumstances of this case and these accused, there is insufficient public interest to warrant further criminal prosecutions.”
Arash Ghiassi, a legal representative for the nine arrestees, notes however that the Crown also stated that there was an insufficient reasonable prospect of conviction.
“The Crown Attorney took one look at these false charges and immediately recognized that they are not worth pursuing,” Ghiassi says in a statement. “These protesters were exercising their constitutional right to peacefully protest. This is another example of police overreach and overcharging to create a false narrative for justifying their heavy presence at both pro-Palestine and Indigenous led demonstrations.”
According to data compiled by the LSC, charges against pro-Palestine protesters rarely result in convictions. The organization says that approximately 170 people have been arrested as a result of Palestine solidarity actions since October 2023. Of those 170 arrested, 16 received trespass tickets and 154 received criminal charges. Of the 96 people who have had their charges resolved so far, only two have been convicted, while the rest have had their charges withdrawn, stayed or received discharges.
