OVIEDO, Spain

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that “the number of Palestinian deaths is unacceptable,” according to Spanish daily El Pais.

In his first face-to-face meeting with Netanyahu in Tel Aviv since the Israeli-Palestinian conflict escalated, Sanchez urged Israel to distinguish between civilian and military targets.

While acknowledging Israel’s “frustration and pain” for the “terrible terrorist acts of Hamas,” the Spanish premier told Netanyahu that Israel must respect international law and end the “humanitarian catastrophe” in the Gaza Strip.

Traveling alongside his Belgian counterpart Alexander De Croo, Sanchez is trying to build momentum for peace talks and an eventual two-state solution.

“Today, more than ever, we need to bring back a serious and credible prospect for peace. Without a political settlement, we are bound to keep running into a never-ending cycle of violence,” Sanchez told Netanyahu, according to a video released by the Spanish government.

Sanchez said his peace conference initiative, to be held “as soon as possible,” has been endorsed by the European Union, the League of Arab States and the Organization for Islamic Cooperation.

“Any solution must be comprehensive. It’s in Israel’s interest to work for peace. And today peace means the establishment of a viable State of Palestine that includes the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem,” Sanchez told Netanyahu.

“Israelis and Palestinians have the right to live in peace and security, and the international community must accompany the process to achieve this. So you can count, prime minister, on Spain for this difficult mission,” Sanchez added.

Meanwhile, back in Spain, the spokesperson of Spain’s conservative Popular Party, Cuca Gamarra, told media that she hopes Sanchez does not “start an international conflict and an exterior conflict between Spain and Israel.”

Spain and Israel already engaged in a diplomatic spat in October after the Israeli Embassy accused some Spanish ministers of aligning themselves with “terrorism.” Spain’s Foreign Ministry snapped back, saying the embassy was misrepresenting the ministers’ positions, and defending the right of politicians to express their opinions.

Earlier in the day, Sanchez told Israeli President Isaac Herzog that the Israeli response “cannot imply the death of innocent civilians in Gaza, including thousands of children.”

Later, Sanchez and De Croo are set to visit Kibbutz Be’eri, where around 100 people were killed during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, and then meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.

On Friday, they are scheduled to travel to Egypt.