Cordoba, Spain - Ten western Mediterranean countries Tuesday urged Israel to open the frontiers of the Gaza Strip and to stop illegal Jewish settlements.

"Israel may have rights, but above all, it has duties towards its neighbours and the rest of the international community," Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi-Fihri said in the southern Spanish city of Cordoba.

Morocco and Spain co-chaired the 7th ministerial meeting of the so-called 5+5 forum, established in 1990 to promote cooperation between Spain, France, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia.

A joint declaration issued by 10 foreign ministers or representatives urged renewed talks to achieve a peace based on the existence of Israel and of a Palestinian state.

Israel needs to stop Jewish settlements in areas including East Jerusalem, the countries said, and also called for reconciliation between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said Madrid "totally rejected" the claim made by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Israel was a racist state.

"We have always been against these statements that want to wipe Israel off the map or address a state like Israel in an unacceptable fashion," Moratinos said about the accusation made by Ahmadinejad at the opening of the conference on racism in Geneva on Monday.

The 10 western Mediterranean countries also gave their backing to the Mediterranean Union, launched by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in July and now stalled over Israel's recent military offensive in Gaza. (dpa)