Palestinian president Abbas set to visit Spain on Tuesday

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will travel Tuesday to Madrid, an official in his office said Monday, after the first Palestinian ambassador to Spain presented his credentials to Spanish King Felipe VI.

Abbas is due to meet King Felipe and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, whose government formally recognised a Palestinian state in May, before heading to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, the official told AFP.

King Felipe on Monday welcomed Housni 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 headed the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Madrid since 2022 and enjoyed a status similar to that of an ambassador, but he officially changed rank after Spain along with Ireland and Norway formally recognised 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 towards securing a ceasefire in Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.

Israel condemned their decision, saying it bolsters Hamas, the militant Islamist group that led the October 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war in the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz at the time accused Sanchez of "participating in the incitement to commit genocide and war crimes against the Jewish people".

Spain has repeatedly criticised Israel over its war against Hamas.

The October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Militants also seized 251 hostages, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory military offensive has so far killed at least 41,226 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.