Russia is outraged by Israel's policy of restricting humanitarian supplies to Gaza. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in an interview with the Indonesian newspaper “Compass“.
“Tens of thousands of Palestinians have fallen victim to the war in Gaza, which has been going on for almost two years, and the number of civilian casualties has long exceeded one hundred thousand. This is several times more than the number of civilians killed in Ukraine during the same period,“ he said. “Israel's policy of restricting humanitarian supplies, which is leading to mass starvation in the Palestinian enclave, is particularly worrying and outrageous. Israel's course of clearing the West Bank of Palestinians is no less alarming.“
According to Lavrov, it is extremely important to prevent the complete destruction of Gaza and stop the killing of civilians. “An immediate and widespread ceasefire, the unconditional release of hostages and detainees, and the provision of safe humanitarian access to all those in need are necessary,“ he said.
The minister noted that the root cause of the current tragic events is the failure to implement the decisions of the international community to create an independent Palestinian state, existing alongside Israel in peace and security. “We still believe that the realization of the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people, their right to control their own destiny, must be an integral condition for the settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict. And, by the way, without this it is very difficult to imagine how the security of Israel itself can be guaranteed in the long term, in which Russia and, I think, other responsible countries are sincerely interested“, he emphasized.
Lavrov recalled that guided by this understanding, Russia took an active part in the High-Level International Conference on the Middle East, which was held in New York from July 28 to 30. “Work in this format will continue during the high-level week of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly in the second half of September. Together with partners with similar interests, we will strive to de-escalate the situation in order to create conditions for achieving a negotiated solution to the Palestinian problem. In this regard, we are ready to continue close cooperation with our Indonesian partners“, concluded the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry.