Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov met with the heads of diplomatic missions of Arab states at their initiative and discussed the Palestinian-Israeli settlement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"There was a detailed exchange of views on the situation in the Middle East and North Africa with a focus on the tasks of de-escalation of tensions in the region and settlement of crisis situations. At that, the main attention was paid to the problems of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement," the report noted.
"Heads of Arab diplomatic missions expressed concern over the actions of Israeli authorities against Palestinian residents in the Gaza Strip as well as in East Jerusalem. The need for consolidation of ceasefire agreements between Palestinians and Israelis and consolidation of international efforts in the interests of early reconstruction of the sector's infrastructure and providing emergency humanitarian aid to its residents was noted," the Russian Foreign Ministry added.
The Russian side explained Moscow's principled and consistent position in favor of establishing stable Palestinian-Israeli negotiations on a well-known international legal basis, aimed at resolving a set of issues of final status and establishing an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, coexisting in peace and security with Israel, the statement said.
The situation on the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip escalated on the evening of May 10. Since the escalation began, according to the Israeli army, about 4.3 thousand rockets have been fired from the Palestinian enclave, about 640 of them fell inside the enclave, the effectiveness of the Iron Dome missile defense system Israel estimated at 90%. According to the latest information, 12 people were killed in Israel and more than 50 were seriously wounded. The number of Palestinians killed in retaliatory Israeli airstrikes reached 243. 1.9 thousand people were wounded.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from RIA Novosti