Israel needs to abandon unilateral steps in relations with the Palestinians to create irreversible realities on the ground, while both sides should refrain from provocations, Russian representative Ivan Khoroshev said on Wednesday, speaking at a UN Security Council meeting.
"The stagnation of the Middle East settlement process, together with the non-resolution of its core problem - the Palestinian one - creates a permanent hotbed of tension in the region," the diplomat said. - "Since the end of the May escalation, the problems of maintaining the ceasefire, providing humanitarian assistance to the affected Palestinians and reanimating the peace process have been acute."
"Against this background, unilateral actions fraught with dangerous consequences - expropriation and destruction of Palestinian property, construction of settlements, arbitrary arrests, violation of the status of holy sites, violence - continue," he said. - "We call on the Israeli authorities to abandon unilateral steps to create irreversible realities on the ground".
At the same time, the Russian side "is sympathetic to the need to take into account Israel's natural security concerns".
"In this regard, we see the primary task in achieving lasting stabilization, the parties' rejection of provocations and unilateral steps, creating conditions for the resumption of the peace process on a universally recognized international legal basis, including the two-state formula," Khoroshev stressed.
On May 21, a ceasefire had come into effect between Israel and Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip, who had been exchanging missile strikes for 11 days. The victims of confrontation were 257 inhabitants of the coastal enclave. About 2 thousand people were wounded. Thirteen people were killed on the Israeli side. Now a permanent ceasefire agreement between the parties to the conflict is being worked out with the active mediation of Egypt.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS