Madrid, Sep 5 (IANS): Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said that Spain and Palestine will hold their first bilateral summit this year to strengthen ties.

"Before the end of this year we are going to hold the first bilateral summit between Spain and Palestine in which we hope to sign several collaboration agreements between the two states," Sanchez said on Wednesday during the opening ceremony of the political year in Madrid.

He also added that Spain will continue supporting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Xinhua news agency reported.

In a coordinated move, Norway, Ireland, and Spain recognised Palestine as a state in May amid international outrage over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza following Israel's military operation.

The Spanish Prime Minister on July 11 urged the West to reject "double standards" regarding the conflict in Gaza as he joined NATO leaders in supporting Ukraine.

Spain under Sanchez has infuriated Israel's right-wing government by recognising a Palestinian state and criticising Israel's conduct of its war against Hamas.

"If we are telling our people that we are supporting Ukraine because we are defending the international law, this is the same to what we have to do towards Gaza," he said at NATO's 75th anniversary summit in Washington.

The socialist leader said there should be a "consistent political position" in which "we don't have double standards".

Sanchez said the world needed to press to "stop this terrible humanitarian crisis" affecting the Palestinians and called for an international peace conference to push for a Palestinian state.

"We need to create the conditions for an immediate and urgent ceasefire," he said.

"There is a real risk of escalation to Lebanon.