Russia blames Israel for recent hostilities in Gaza

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova on Saturday evening issued a statement on the recent hostilities in Gaza.

In it, she underlined that, "Moscow is seriously concerned about the new wave of armed violence in the zone of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."

According to Zakharova, Russia is following the war in Gaza and believes that it is "fraught with the renewal of full-scale military confrontation and further deterioration of the already deplorable humanitarian situation in Gaza."

Placing the blame for the fighting squarely and solely on Israel, she said, "The Israeli Air Force's airstrikes triggered another escalation on August 5, in response to which Palestinian armed militants launched a massive indiscriminate shelling of the Israeli territory."

Zakharova then called for "all parties involved to exercise maximum restraint, prevent the escalation of hostilities, and immediately return to the sustainable ceasefire regime."