‘’Israel must redouble its efforts to avoid civilian casualties. had already been far too many civilian victims in Gaza. There had already been far too many civilian victims,’’ De Croo repeated several times when he met Netanyahu. A metring which he described as ‘’open and frank.’’ Belgian media spoke of a ‘’tense meeting.’’

‘’We support Israel’s right to defend itself, but we call for more to be done to avoid civilian casualties,’’ said Belgian Prime Minister after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog. De Croo is in Israel together with his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez in the framwork of a Mideast tour that also includes a visit to the Palestinian Territories in Ramallah and in Egypt.

‘’Israel must redouble its efforts to avoid civilian casualties. had already been far too many civilian victims in Gaza. There had already been far too many civilian victims,’’ De Croo repeated several times when he met Netanyahu. A metring which he described as ‘’open and frank.’’ Belgian media spoke of a ‘’tense meeting.’’

The Belgian and Spanish governments have been so far the less friendly towards Israel in Europe. Several ministers in both governments have made anti-Israel statements.

De Croo also pleaded for the opening of a new border crossing to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, which until now can only pass through the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border.

“We are not here to exchange good news”, he commented after the meeting with Netanyahu.

‘’The humanitarian truce of several days, announced but still not in force, is an opportunity to relaunch the peace process,’’ according to De Croo, even if Netanyahu insisted that the war is far from over. “We don’t want another 10,000 deaths. This is an important moment. Let’s not make it another missed opportunity”, De Croo told reporters.

Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez urged Israel to rethink its offensive in Gaza, telling its president and prime minister the number of dead Palestinians is “truly unbearable”, and that the response to Hamas’s terrorist attacks last month cannot include “the deaths of innocent civilians, including thousands of children”.

He called for a peace conference and reiterated that the creation of a Palestinian state remained the best way to bring peace and security to the region.

Speaking as he met Netanyahu, Sanchez said Spain had repeatedly condemned Hamas’s “shocking acts of terrorism” and acknowledged Israel’s right to defend itself.

But he added: “Let me also be clear: Israel must abide by international law, including international humanitarian law, in its response … The whole world is shocked at the images that we see coming from Gaza every day. The number of Palestinians killed is truly unbearable. I believe that all civilians must be protected at all costs.”

The Spanish premier said “a serious and credible prospect for peace” was more necessary than ever. “Without a political settlement, we are bound to run again into a never-ending cycle of violence.”

He said the Palestinian authorities should take control of Gaza when the war ended. “The two-state solution should be implemented to defeat terrorism and guarantee Israel’s security,” he said.

He called for an international peace conference to be held as soon as possible, adding: “We need to achieve the establishment of a viable Palestinian state. Israelis and Palestinians have the right to live in peace and security.”

Relations between Spain and Israel have been particularly tenseover the last few weeks after some extreme-left members of the Spanish cabinet criticised Israel’s reaction to the terrorist atrocities, suggesting it was committing ‘’war crimes’’ in Gaza and calling for Netanyahu to be brought before the international criminal court.

Israel’s embassy in Madrid slammed the remarks as “deeply immoral” and accused some Spanish MPs of aligning themselves with “Isis-style terrorism”.

De Croo and Sanchez were due to visit Thursday afternoon the Be’eri kibbutz, located near the Gaza Strip and which paid a heavy price for the Hamas massacre on October 7. They will then travel to the West Bank, where they will hold talks with the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, in Ramallah.

1,200 people were killed and 239 taken hostage when Hamas terrorists crossed the border from Gaza on 7 October.