By Qais Abu Samra
RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez discussed efforts on Tuesday to stop Israel’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.
The two leaders met on the sidelines of an emergency aid conference for Gaza to explore ways of halting the Israeli “aggression” against the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, the state news agency Wafa reported.
Abbas called for Israeli troop withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip and access to aid to prevent an imminent famine in the enclave, Wafa said.
The Palestinian leader thanked the Spanish premier for his country’s “courageous and principled stance” by recognizing Palestine as a state.
Sanchez, for his part, reiterated Spain’s support “for the Palestinian people and their unwavering and legitimate right to their land, along with their right to self-determination and the establishment of their independent state,” Wafa said.
On May 28, Spain officially recognized Palestine as a state.
The move comes as Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
Nearly 37,200 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and more than 84,800 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala