Morocco, Spain Resume Cooperation on Migration after Normalizing Relations

Spanish troops at El-Tarajal beach, near the Spanish-Moroccan (Reuters)
Spanish troops at El-Tarajal beach, near the Spanish-Moroccan (Reuters)
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Morocco, Spain Resume Cooperation on Migration after Normalizing Relations

Spanish troops at El-Tarajal beach, near the Spanish-Moroccan (Reuters)
Spanish troops at El-Tarajal beach, near the Spanish-Moroccan (Reuters)

The Moroccan-Spanish Joint Committee held its meeting to prepare Operation Crossing the Strait (OPE) 2022 this Thursday in Rabat.

The Committee facilitates the transit of Moroccan citizens living abroad during the summer.

The meeting was co-chaired by Moroccan Director of Migration and Border Surveillance Khalid Zerouali and Spain’s Undersecretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Isabel Goicoechea.

A joint statement issued after the meeting announced that it comes within the framework of implementing the roadmap established during the meeting last April between Spanish President Pedro Sanchez and the King of Morocco, Mohamed VI.

The discussions focused on the operational arrangements put in place by the two parties, similar to those adopted in 2019, to ensure that the 2022 transit process is conducted in the best conditions.

The measures are based on several factors, including the fluidity and security of transit, assistance to travelers, and the prevention and protection of public health.

The parties also agreed on an essential plan for sailing, which provides offers regarding the daily capacity of passenger transport, vehicles, rotation, and sea connection.

They also issued directives to mobilize necessary logistics and human resources at ports and airports through measures of social assistance monitored by the Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity in Morocco and abroad.

The two sides discussed plans to guarantee an adequate supply for the daily traffic of passengers and vehicles. The reinforcements of troops will be mobilized in the ports to ensure transit, both from Europe to Africa and vice versa.

They agreed to reinforce and coordinate information exchange channels to continue working on aspects such as the management of peak travel days, the possibility of exchanging tickets, and other conditions for maritime crossings.



Olmert: ‘Humanitarian City’ in Rafah Would Be Concentration Camp for Palestinians

Former Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert looks on during an interview with AFP (Agence France-Presse) in Paris on June 9, 2025. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)
Former Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert looks on during an interview with AFP (Agence France-Presse) in Paris on June 9, 2025. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)
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Olmert: ‘Humanitarian City’ in Rafah Would Be Concentration Camp for Palestinians

Former Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert looks on during an interview with AFP (Agence France-Presse) in Paris on June 9, 2025. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)
Former Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert looks on during an interview with AFP (Agence France-Presse) in Paris on June 9, 2025. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)

Israel’s former prime minister Ehud Olmert said that the “humanitarian city” that Israel’s defense minister has proposed building on the ruins of Rafah would be a concentration camp, and forcing Palestinians inside would be ethnic cleansing, the Guardian reported on Sunday.

Israel was already committing war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank, Olmert told the daily, and construction of the camp would mark an escalation.

Israeli Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, has ordered the military to start drawing up operational plans for construction of the “humanitarian city” on the ruins of southern Gaza, to house initially 600,000 people and eventually the entire Palestinian population, stated the Guardian.

“It is a concentration camp. I am sorry,” Olmert told he daily, when asked about the plans laid out by Katz last week. Once inside, Palestinians would not be allowed to leave, except to go to other countries, Katz said.

The “humanitarian city” project is backed by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israel’s refusal to withdraw from the area Katz envisages for the camp is a sticking point in the faltering negotiations for a ceasefire deal, Israeli media have reported.