By Alyssa McMurtry
OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Israel’s attacks on the besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza “have to stop,” the Spanish foreign minister said in Jordan on Wednesday.
Emphasizing the tragedy of the more than 30,000 deaths, including around 13,500 children in the conflict, Jose Manuel Albares said the international community cannot remain indifferent and should act to achieve an urgent cease-fire.
“The deaths aren’t figures, they are people of flesh and blood, and we cannot forget that,” he said during a joint press conference alongside his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi.
“Safadi and I have agreed since the beginning about the need for a cease-fire that facilitates the entrance of humanitarian aid to stop the civilian population from dying in bombings or because of hunger,” the Spanish foreign minister said.
Albares is on his third Middle East tour in recent months. Later on Wednesday, he will visit Egypt.
While in Jordan, he also emphasized the need for all parties, including Israel, to comply with international law and the International Court of Justice ruling.
“No one should be above the law or at the margin of justice,” he added.
During this tour, he is drumming up support not only for a cease-fire but for an international peace conference.
“We need to work politically so that once the urgent cease-fire happens, this is the last time we see this spiral of violence and horror,” he said, explaining that his vision is not to host another Oslo Accords where states “discuss the parameters of peace.”
“This is so that once and for all we implement the two-state solution; so that a realistic Palestinian state exists in the eyes of the international community,” he said.
Safadi agreed that establishing a sovereign Palestinian state “is the only way to achieve security and stability in the region.”
Albares added that Spain and Jordan are at a high point in bilateral relations. The countries also signed two new cooperation agreements related to political consultations and exchanging experiences between diplomatic institutes.
He also said that Spain will collaborate on a water de-salinization project and that part of Spain’s increased funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees will go to supporting the 2.5 million Palestinian refugees in Jordan.