Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called on Saturday on the countries of the world to recognize the State of Palestine and work to grant it full membership in the United Nations and end the Israeli occupation.

Sanchez's statements came during his participation in the Socialist International conference meeting, which is being held in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, between Friday and Sunday.

Sanchez stressed the importance of "achieving a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East."

He stressed the need for "combined efforts to confront the escalating crises in different parts of the world, especially in Palestine."

"The Israeli occupation must end and the Palestinian people must be enabled to establish their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, within the framework of the two-state solution," Sanchez said.

He added: "We must end the suffering of the Palestinians and put an end to the siege and restrictions on the lives of civilians."

Palestine has the status of a “non-member observer state” at the United Nations, and was granted this status after a resolution adopted by the General Assembly by a large majority on November 29, 2012.

With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving nearly 153,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and elderly people.

Israel continues its massacres, ignoring two arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court on November 21 against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians in Gaza.

The Socialist International is an international organization that includes socialist and social democratic parties from different countries of the world, aiming to support democracy, reduce inequalities, and enhance solidarity to achieve peace and stability.

It was founded in Germany in 1923, and the organization was re-established in its current form in 1951. It currently includes about 162 parties and organizations.