Spain’s top diplomat dismissed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement that there will never be a Palestinian state, saying Israelis will one day want to live side-by-side in peace with Palestinians.

Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said in an interview with The Associated Press that “a real wave” of countries have recognized the state of Palestine since Spain, Ireland and Norway did so in May 2024.

“The day that everyone will have recognized the state of Palestine, we will have to move forward,” he said. “I’m sure that we will find someday the right people for peace on the Israel side, in the same way that we have found it in the Palestinian side, the Palestinian National Authority.”

Spain has been at the forefront of pressuring Israel to end the war in Gaza sparked by Hamas’ surprise invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, criticizing “the atrocities” and “endless killing” it is committing in the territory.

Albares spoke ahead of a U.N. General Assembly high-level meeting where the Palestinians expect 10 recent and new countries to formally recognize the state of Palestine, adding to the list of more than 145 nations that already have. Netanyahu reiterated his opposition to a Palestinian state after weekend recognitions by the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.

The Spanish minister called Hamas “a terrorist organization” that doesn’t want a two-state solution.

“So, let’s put aside the extremists, and let’s look for the people that want a peaceful and secure coexistence,” he said.

Albares also said that it was impossible for Spain to have a “normal relation with Israel” while "this endless war continues” as a democratic country that believes in human rights.

“We were alone then,” he said. “Now many other European countries and countries around the world say exactly the same thing.”

Spain's opposition to Israel's actions in Gaza intensified in recent weeks. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the war a “genocide” earlier this month when he announced plans to formalize an arms embargo and block Israel-bound fuel deliveries from passing through Spanish ports.

Days later, pro-Palestine protesters for whom the government expressed its support disrupted the final leg of an international cycling competition in Madrid due to the presence of a team with ties to Israel.

In the incident's aftermath, Sánchez called for Israel to be banned from all international sporting events. A diplomatic tit-for-that ensued in which with both countries banned ministers from the opposite one, and Israeli leaders accused the Spanish government of being “antisemitic.”

AP video shot by Joseph B. Frederick