Extremist content creators spread conspiracy theories blaming Israel for Spain's migration crisis

Online conspiracy theories have emerged, falsely blaming Israel for the recent migration crisis in Spain's North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. These narratives gained traction over the weekend, with several anti-Israel accounts citing a 2019 social media post by Yair Netanyahu, son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as supposed "proof."

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would not fund "NGOs in [Spain] calling you to give away Ceuta and Melilla, and [Spain] will stop funding NGOs in our country that call us to give away Judea and Samaria."

Far-left content creator Ana Alcalde, known as "Gaza Barbie," was among those spreading these theories. She claimed the crisis was a "plan to take down a progressive government like the one of [Spanish Prime Minister] Pedro Sanchez" and linked Netanyahu, Israel, and then-US President Donald Trump to the events. On the other side of the political spectrum, far-right influencer Alex Jones promoted a theory that "Israel launched an Islamic invasion of Spain" with US backing.

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a plan to take down a progressive government like the one of [Spanish Prime Minister] Pedro Sanchez

These conspiracy narratives stand in contrast to reporting by The New York Times, which indicated that Moroccan police played a role in encouraging migrants to cross the border into Spain. According to the report, migrants were influenced by social media posts and directly urged by officers to cross, with one individual recalling police telling him, "Come to Spain."

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Israel launched an Islamic invasion of Spain