MOSCOW, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that both Russia and the Arab League call for the cessation of all hostility between Israel and Palestine and a return to negotiations.
“We reiterate our position on the unacceptability of any violence, injury and death of civilians (regardless of which party they belong to),” Lavrov said during talks in Moscow with Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, secretary general of the Arab League.
“The Arab League and the Russian Federation… have called for an immediate cessation of hostilities… and the transition to negotiations,” Lavrov was quoted as saying by the Foreign Ministry.
He added that both sides were deeply concerned about the hundreds of Israelis and Palestinians who have died as a result of the recent escalation and the thousands who have been injured.
Lavrov said that after similar periods of escalation, the parties involved had not made the necessary efforts to address the main problems undermining stability in the Middle East.
“There have been calls to immediately stop the bloodshed and come to the negotiating table. However, there can only be one initiative, namely the implementation of the decisions adopted at the United Nations to resolve the Palestinian problem,” he noted. Lavrov.
He reiterated Moscow’s commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Our common position is that this is the only initiative that can come ‘to the table’ and must become the subject of direct negotiations between Palestine and Israel,” Lavrov said.
Aboul-Gheit’s visit came after the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) launched a surprise attack on Israeli towns bordering the Gaza Strip on Saturday, killing at least 700 Israelis so far against the Gaza Strip to 493 and the number of wounded rising 2,751 increased. End