The Israeli government must end the "daily indignities" it inflicts on the Palestinian people, the foreign secretary has said.

Ahead of a tough conference vote on the government's position on Iraq, Jack Straw sought to win over delegates with one over the strongest statements on the Middle East yet made by a Labour foreign secretary.

Aware that many conference delegates are instinctively critical of the Israeli government, Straw said it was time to end the conflict and establish a Palestinian state.

Describing the situation in the Middle East as a "running sore", he said more than 2500 people had been killed in the last two years alone.

"There is anger, fear and hatred of both sides, on both sides," Straw said.

He repeated the government line that terror attacks against Israel must be halted.

"Israel has every right to its security. It can never enjoy this as long as the unimaginable daily threat of suicide bombings against innocent civilians continues," he said.

But Straw also made a strong call for Ariel Sharon's government to allow the creation of a Palestinian state and stop the daily humiliation of the Palestinian people.

"Just to see the daily indignities visited on the women and children at military checkpoints in the occupied territories is to know that the Palestinian people have suffered too long," said Straw.

"The right of the Palestinians to full, independent statehood is unarguable, indivisible and overdue."

Straw linked the Israel-Palestine conflict with tackling poverty in Africa, ending oppression in Afghanistan and dealing with the Iraqi threat.

"These are not alternatives, quite the reverse," he said.

"Each is a fundamental part of how we create a more just and secure world. Of course some decisions are easier than others.

"But each has to be done. If we falter on one, we falter on all," Straw warned.