MADRID: Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan has urged European nations to impose sanctions on Israeli officials violating international human rights laws as he warned that Israel’s war on Gaza was affecting the entire Middle East, including southern Lebanon.

“The situation in the Gaza Strip does not only affect the Palestinian issue but the entire region and contributes to further escalations, which is currently happening in southern Lebanon,” he said on Thursday.

He was speaking at a panel discussion titled “Wars and shadow wars: What are Europe’s options in the Middle East?” at the European Council on Foreign Relations meeting in Madrid.

Prince Faisal highlighted the international community’s silence on Israel’s continued expansion of settlements in the West Bank that undermine the peace process in Palestine.

He said the least that European countries can do is condemn Israel’s failure to abide by its commitments.

And they should take stricter steps such as imposing sanctions on those officials violating international human rights laws, the SPA reported.

He said the Palestinian people have the right to self-determination and deserve an independent state recognized internationally.

“The majority of the international community agrees that the permanent and just solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the two-state solution, yet they stand idle in the face of matters that could undermine the two-state solution, such as Israel’s continued expansion of settlement activities.”

He praised those European countries that have recognized Palestine as a state, including Spain. This was “a very important move” that supports the peace process and the push toward a two-state solution, he said.

Prince Faisal reiterated calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the delivery of urgent humanitarian aid to the besieged population.