Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his “dissatisfaction” with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday after Russia voted in the UN Security Council for a ceasefire between the Palestinian Hamas and Israel in Gaza.
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“The prime minister expressed his dissatisfaction with the anti-Israel positions taken by Russian delegates to the United Nations and other forums,” said a statement from Mr. Netanyahu’s office after a telephone interview between the two leaders.
Russia passed a Security Council resolution on Friday calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza, but the United States vetoed it, which Israel welcomed.
Since the deadly war between Hamas and Israel began on October 7 in the Gaza Strip, Putin has been critical of Israel, denouncing the humanitarian “catastrophe” and calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Russia maintains friendly relations with Hamas and does not consider the group a “terrorist” organization, unlike Israel, the United States and the European Union.
AFP
Mr Netanyahu also criticized “the dangerous cooperation between Russia and Iran”, a key backer of Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah, after President Ebrahim Raïssi's visit to Moscow on Thursday.
“Our relations are developing very well,” Putin greeted at the start of the interview, while regional tensions raise the specter of an expansion of the conflict.
Iran, a key backer of Hamas, has warned of the “possibility” of an “uncontrollable explosion” in the Middle East, while Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have threatened to attack any ship in the Red Sea heading towards Israel, if this is the case, the people of Gaza are not receiving the help they need.
The head of Israel's National Security Council, Tzachi Hanegbi, said on Saturday: “If the world does not take care of this because it is an international problem, we will act to put an end to this sea siege.”
On the northern front, Israel is on alert against the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, with which there have been exchanges of fire almost daily since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas.
AFP
The Israeli prime minister nevertheless welcomed “Russian efforts to free a Russian-Israeli hostage” among the 240 people kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, and called on his interlocutor to “put pressure on the Red Cross to provide visits and medicine for to enable around 137 people”. According to the statement, hostages are still in the Gaza Strip.