Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez of levelling a “genocidal threat” against Israel, drawing an outraged response from Madrid, AFP reports.

“I don’t think Netanyahu is exactly the person entitled to lecture anyone while committing the atrocities he is committing in Gaza,” Spanish defence minister Margarita Robles told Antena 3 television.

Her comments came in reaction to a message Netanyahu’s office posted on X on Thursday, accusing Sanchez of threatening Israel — the latest fiery exchange between the two countries.

“Spanish PM Sanchez said yesterday that Spain can’t stop Israel’s battle against Hamas terrorists because ‘Spain does not have nuclear weapons.’ That’s a blatant genocidal threat on the world’s only Jewish State,” it said.

A few hours later, Spain’s foreign ministry issued a rebuttal.

In a statement, it stressed that “the Spanish people are friends of the people of Israel as of the people of Palestine”, denouncing the Israeli premier’s remarks as “false and slanderous”.