Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that the conflict in Gaza could become a regional crisis saying efforts to pin blame on Iran would add fuel to the fire according to Russia’s Interfax news agency.
Interfax quoted Lavrov as saying that &ldquoRussia is in contact with Turkey to discuss the developments in Gaza and ways to prevent the conflict from escalating into a region-wide war.
&ldquoWe are observing attempts to blame everything on Iran and consider them quite provocative&rdquo Lavrov stressed.
&ldquoThe Iranian leadership I believe takes a fairly responsible balanced position and is calling for preventing this conflict from spreading to the entire region and neighboring countries&rdquo he added.
In response to the recent announcement that the Rafah border crossing is set to reopen Russia has sent 27 tons of humanitarian aid to Egypt for distribution to civilians in Gaza.
&ldquoA special plane took off on Wednesday from the airport at Ramenskoye near Moscow for El-Arish in Egypt. The Russian humanitarian aid will be handed over to the Egyptian Red Crescent before being sent to the Gaza Strip&rdquo the Russian ministry of emergency situations said.
This move follows an agreement reached after US president Joe Biden’s recent discussions with Israeli and Egyptian leaders enabling the daily delivery of 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.
This week Russia proposed amendments to a draft UN resolution that would have called for an &ldquoimmediate full&rdquo ceasefire and ending attacks on civilians but it was rejected by the Security Council. The final draft which called only for humanitarian pauses was also vetoed by the US with Russia abstaining.
Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the final draft had &ldquono clear call for a ceasefire&rdquo and would &ldquonot help to stop the bloodshed.&rdquo
In this regard the Hamas Movement appreciated Russia’s recent position at the Security Council and its keenness on having a UN resolution enforcing an immediate and full ceasefire and ending Israel’s indiscriminate attacks on Gaza.
