King of Spain did not claim that Israel is committing ‘genocide and massacre’ in Gaza

"The King of Spain accused Israel of genocide and massacre in Gaza". Viral content is circulating on social media that attributes to King Felipe VI statements in which he accuses Israel of committing ‘genocide and massacre’ in Gaza, following the attacks between Israel and Hamas that began on 7 October 2023.

At a venue attended by the King on 8 May he expressed [minute 2:48] his concern about the ‘aggravation’ of the ‘crisis in the Middle East’ arising from the conflict between Israel and Gaza following an ‘escalation of violence’ marked by ‘terrorist attacks suffered by Israel’ and ‘perpetrated from Gaza’, mentioning the ‘devastating destruction and humanitarian situation’.

King Felipe VI attended the 5th International Expansion Forum held in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid, Spain) on the 8th of May, where he closed the session on ‘artificial intelligence’ and chaired the summit's institutional dinner. He made the following statements on the attacks between Israel and Hamas [minute 2:48], translated accurately from Spanish:

This year, to the analysis that we were then making of the context, very much conditioned by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, ambassador, greetings with all affection today, another conflict has been added. The worsening of the crisis in the Middle East, as we have rarely seen before. The consequences of which also transcend the regional level and are being projected globally, with a great deal of uncertainty as to how far, or what the consequences may be. 

Let us remember that all this does not begin on that fateful day of 7 October. But it is then, with that sequence of terrible large-scale terrorist attacks on Israel, perpetrated from Gaza, that this terrible escalation of violence began. Today, with the devastating destruction and humanitarian situation in Gaza, it is reaching dimensions unimaginable months ago. And it is of the utmost concern to all of us, here the representative, Josep Borrell, is daily engaged in it, and no doubt, we understand very well what he is going through.

At no point in his remarks at the event does King Felipe VI utter the words ‘massacre’ or ‘genocide’, nor does he accuse Israel of it.