Spain hosts European and Arab nations to pressure Israel on Gaza

Countries Israel had long counted on as allies have been adding their voices to growing international pressure after it expanded military operations against Gaza's Hamas rulers, whose 2023 attack on Israel sparked the devastating war.

A two-month aid blockade has worsened shortages of food, water, fuel and medicine in the Palestinian territory, sparking fears of famine.

Aid organisations say the trickle of supplies Israel allowed to enter in recent days falls far short of needs.

Madrid will host 20 countries as well as international organisations on Sunday with the aim of "stopping this war, which no longer has any goal", Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told France Info radio.

Humanitarian aid must enter Gaza "massively, unimpeded, neutrally, so that it is not Israel who decides who can eat and who cannot", he said.

A previous such gathering in Madrid last year brought together countries including Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey as well as European nations such as Ireland and Norway that have recognised a Palestinian state.

Sunday's meeting, which also includes representatives from the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, will promote a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

After the European Union decided this week to review its cooperation deal with Israel, Albares said "we must consider sanctions, we must do everything, consider everything to stop this war".

Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mainly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Palestinian militants also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed almost 54,000 people, mostly civilians, according to Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry.