Spanish PM calls for 'pressure on Israel to halt massacre in Gaza'
- Last updated: May 17, 2025 | 20:11
Baghdad: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Saturday called for increased pressure "to halt the massacre in Gaza," speaking at an Arab League summit hours after Israel announced an intensified operation in the besieged Palestinian territory.
UN chief Antonio Guterres told the Baghdad meeting that "we need a permanent ceasefire, now," while Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi urged his US counterpart Donald Trump to "apply all necessary efforts ... for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip."
"The extremely grave humanitarian crisis Gaza has endured since October 2023 has caused more than 50,000 dead, 100,000 wounded and two million displaced," said Sanchez, who has sharply criticised the Israeli offensive.
World leaders should "intensify our pressure on Israel to halt the massacre in Gaza, particularly through the channels afforded to us by international law," he said.
The Socialist prime minister said Spain will "submit to the United Nations General Assembly a proposal to ask the International Court of Justice to rule on Israel's compliance with its international obligations on humanitarian aid access to Gaza", under a complete aid blockade since March 2.
Sanchez said Spain would also back another draft UN resolution calling on Israel to "end the humanitarian blockade" and guarantee "full and unrestricted access for humanitarian aid" to enter Gaza.
On May 7, Sanchez told the Spanish parliament that Madrid would present a draft resolution at the UN General Assembly aimed at "proposing urgent measures to stop the killing of innocent civilians and ensure humanitarian aid" in Gaza.
Speaking in Baghdad on Saturday, he said that promoting "a political solution" to the conflict was a priority.
"The only path towards peace in the region" is "the implementation of the two-state solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he said. "I wish once again to urge other countries to recognise the State of Palestine."
He expressed hope for progress in an international conference on the two-state solution planned for June in Saudi Arabia, which represents "a historic opportunity." But Sanchez said that "it will only succeed if there is broad Arab and European consensus that leads to firm action by the entire international community"
Guterres said that "we reject the repeated displacement of the Gaza population, along with any question of forced displacement outside of Gaza."
The UN secretary-general also said he was "alarmed by reported plans by Israel to expand ground operations and more".
Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani told the summit that his country backs the creation of an "Arab fund to support reconstruction efforts" after crises in the region. He pledged $20 million to the reconstruction of Gaza and a similar amount for Lebanon.
Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said the Baghdad meeting would endorse previous Arab League decisions on Gaza's reconstruction countering Trump's widely condemned proposal.
Agence France-Presse