Russia said on Saturday it was “deeply concerned” about the violence between the Israeli army and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, calling on both parties to exercise restraint. “We call on all parties involved to exercise maximum restraint,” the spokeswoman for Russian diplomacy said in a statement.
Russia said Saturday it was “deeply concerned” after exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, calling on both parties to exercise restraint. “We observe with deep concern the development of events, which may lead to a resumption of full-scale military confrontation and further aggravate the already deplorable humanitarian situation in Gaza,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. , in a press release.
Raids for “a week”
“We call on all parties involved to exercise maximum restraint, prevent an escalation of armed operations and immediately restore a lasting ceasefire,” she added. According to Ms. Zakharova, “a further escalation was caused by Israeli air force fire in the Gaza Strip on August 5, which Palestinian groups responded by carrying out massive and indiscriminate bombardments on Israeli territory”. .
The Israeli army said on Saturday that it was preparing to carry out raids for “a week” in the Gaza Strip, where it is stepping up strikes against the armed organization Islamic Jihad. It claims to have killed 15 fighters from this formation in strikes since Friday afternoon. Gaza authorities have reported 13 dead, including a five-year-old girl, and more than 100 injured.
This is the worst confrontation between the Jewish state and armed organizations in Gaza since the eleven-day war in May 2021, which left 260 dead on the Palestinian side and 14 dead in Israel.