Spanish lawmakers on Wednesday approved the enshrinement in law of an arms embargo on Israel that Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez introduced to end what he called “the genocide in Gaza.”

Parliament backed the decree announced in September by Sanchez, one of the most virulent critics among world leaders of Israel’s devastating two-year war in the coastal Palestinian territory.

The embargo was passed with 178 votes in favor and 169 against.

The support of far-left party Podemos, which has four MPs and had criticized the decree, helped swing the vote the leftist minority coalition’s way after days of speculation about their lawmakers’ position.

The government says it had already banned buying weapons from or selling them to Israel since the start of the war, sparked by the unprecedented Hamas terror onslaught on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023.

But Sanchez announced last month a decree to “consolidate in law” the embargo as part of the country’s “total embargo” on Israel that it announced last month.

As part of those efforts, Spanish news outlet El País reported last month that Madrid may even declare Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other ministers personae non grata, though that was not part of the law that was enshrined Wednesday.

“Israel’s response to the terrible attacks committed by terrorist group Hamas on October 7, 2023, has ended up becoming an indiscriminate attack against the Palestinian population that the majority of experts have called genocide,” reads the preamble of the law.

It bans all exports of defense equipment, products, or technology to Israel and imports of such goods from the country.

The decree also outlaws the transit of aviation fuel with potential military use and bans the advertising of products coming from Israeli settlements.

The text allows the government to make exceptions for dual-use defense equipment “if the application of the ban harmed general national interests.”

September’s announcement triggered furious condemnation from Israel, which had already withdrawn its ambassador to Madrid in 2024 after Spain recognized a Palestinian state.

The vote was initially scheduled for Tuesday, but Spanish media said it was held a day later to avoid coinciding with the two-year anniversary of the Hamas attack.

Israel’s embassy in Spain criticized the original plan, calling it “a cynical and reprehensible decision” in a letter released late on Monday.