Spanish PM Retracts Claims Blaming Israel for Migration Crisis

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has retracted accusations he made against Israel, Russia, and Morocco regarding a massive migration crisis in Ceuta, a Spanish territory bordering Morocco. Last week, Sánchez suggested in a podcast that an organized online campaign, involving Israel, Russia, and Morocco, had encouraged Moroccan citizens to cross into Ceuta by promising them Spanish residency. He alleged that Morocco harbored territorial ambitions in Ceuta, Russia aimed to undermine European Union unity, and Israel viewed the Spanish government as an adversary.

The influx occurred in late July when tens of thousands of migrants breached Ceuta's borders. Local police reported that the migrants exploited the diversion of security forces to combat widespread fires across Spain and France, entering Ceuta with minimal resistance. Estimates suggest between 60,000 and 100,000 illegal immigrants entered the Spanish territory within hours.

During a recent address to the Spanish national parliament, Sánchez admitted that there was no organized campaign as he had previously described. Instead, he stated that the breach was spontaneous, attributing the security lapse to insufficient border defenses resulting from government policy. He acknowledged that the situation was not orchestrated by external actors as he had initially claimed.