Spain urges convening of international peace conference on Israel-Palestine conflict 'as soon as possible'

Spain's envoy to UN in Geneva on Thursday urged the convening of an international peace conference on the Israel-Palestine conflict without further delay.

Aurora Diaz-Rato Revuelta's remarks came during her speech at the Interactive Dialogue on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory under the 55th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Diaz-Rato said such a conference should be convened "as soon as possible."

She also voiced support for the work of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees or UNRWA as some states cut their funding to the agency following Israeli claims that some UNRWA staff were involved in the cross-border attack on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.

The ambassador also reiterated Spain's call for an immediate and permanent cease-fire, as well as Madrid's support toward a two-state solution.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 Hamas cross-border incursion, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

More than 30,000 Palestinians have since been killed and over 70,000 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The war has pushed 85% of Gaza's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.