The situation in the Gaza Strip shows that the United States is trying to monopolize the mediation functions in the Palestinian-Israeli settlement, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during an extraordinary BRICS summit on the conflict.
“All these events are, in fact, a direct consequence of the United States’ desire to monopolize the mediation functions in the Palestinian-Israeli settlement and its blocking of the activities of the Middle East Quartet of international mediators,” Putin said, Sputnik reported.
Putin commented on mass displacement of the local population and the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
“The death of thousands of people [in the Gaza Strip], mass displacements of civilian population and the humanitarian catastrophe that has broken out cause great concern,” Putin told the BRICS extraordinary summit on the situation in the Middle East.
“Participation of colleagues from the Middle East in today’s meeting, who have received the invitation to be full members of BRICS this year, is especially important. I want to use the moment to note their efforts on the normalization of the situation, and in particular I mean the “peace summit” in Egypt and the extraordinary Islamic summit in Saudi Arabia,” Putin also said.
It is important to prevent the geography of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict from expanding and to preserve the fragile interfaith peace in the region, Putin said.
“The most urgent task is to achieve a truly long-term and sustainable ceasefire,” Putin added.
Proper humanitarian pauses are required to ensure the safe release of hostages from the Gaza Strip, Putin said.
“I would like to emphasize that such humanitarian pauses, or better, of course, a full-fledged ceasefire, are necessary to continue efforts to release hostages and evacuate civilians and foreign citizens from the Gaza Strip,” Putin stressed.
Due to the sabotage of UN decisions, more than one generation of Palestinians has been brought up with a sense of injustice, Putin added.
“Because of the sabotage of the UN decisions, which clearly provide for the creation and peaceful coexistence of two independent and sovereign states, Israel and Palestine, more than one generation of Palestinians has been brought up in an atmosphere of injustice shown to their people. And the Israelis cannot fully guarantee the security of their state,” Putin said.
Putin commended the urgent convening of the BRICS summit on important international issues, a practice that was introduced by South Africa.
“The new format of emergency online meetings of leaders, proposed by President [of South Africa Cyril] Ramaphosa seems very promising. Moreover, this concerns not only the Middle East settlement, but also other topical issues on the global and regional agenda,” Putin told the BRICS extraordinary summit on the situation in the Middle East.
It is important to prevent the Israel-Palestine conflict from becoming a regional one, Putin said.
Russia will initiate contacts on the Palestine-Israel settlement during its upcoming chairmanship in BRICS, Putin said.
“We consider it extremely useful to continue the discussion within the framework of BRICS on the further development of the Palestinian-Israeli confrontation. If there are no objections, dear colleagues, then during the upcoming Russian presidency in the association next year, we will initiate possible contacts, including via video link, on this issue,” Putin said.
On October 7, Hamas launched a surprise large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip and breached the border, killing more than 1,200 people and abducting over 200 others in neighboring Israeli communities. Israel launched retaliatory strikes and ordered a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, cutting off supplies of water, food, and fuel. On October 27, Israel launched a large-scale ground incursion inside the Gaza Strip with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. The conflict has resulted in the deaths of over 13,300 people in the Gaza Strip.
