Spain calls for pressure on Israel to end Gaza war

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."