BAGHDAD, May 17 (AFP): 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 summit comes straight after a Gulf tour by Trump, who sparked uproar earlier this year by declaring that the United States could take over Gaza and turn it into the "Riviera of the Middle East".
The scheme that included the proposed displacement of Palestinians prompted Arab leaders to come up with an alternative plan to rebuild the territory at a March summit in Cairo.
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".
The Israeli military said it had launched "extensive strikes" on Saturday as part of the "initial stages" of a fresh offensive, more than 19 months into the war sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack.
Sanchez, who has sharply criticised the Israeli offensive, said 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 his government planned a UN resolution demanding an International Court of Justice ruling on Israel's war methods.
The "unacceptable number" of war victims in Gaza violates the "principle of humanity", he said.
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.
