MOSCOW, November 12. /TASS/. Russia is profoundly worried over the current escalation in the Gaza Strip and calls on Palestinians and Israelis to stop hostilities and return to sustainable ceasefire, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

The ministry noted that tensions around the Gaza Strip have exacerbated in the past few days. "Moscow is profoundly alarmed over this dangerous escalation that is fraught with the resumption of large-scale armed confrontation around Gaza which may entail casualties among civilians on both sides and an utter collapse of the humanitarian situation," the ministry said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry called for the soonest restoration of Palestinian unity and resumption of political process between Palestinians and Israelis on the basis of United Nations General Assembly resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative. "We call on Palestinians and Israelis to waste no time to return to sustainable ceasefire, to show restraint, to take measures to avoid recurrences of confrontation with unpredictable consequences. We hail corresponding mediatory efforts of the Egyptian authorities," the ministry stressed.

According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Palestinian radicals fired over 300 missiles at Israel from the Gaza Strip. Some of the missiles were downed by Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system. In retaliation, Israeli fighter jets delivered air strikes on terrorist targets in Gaza.

On November 11, the IDF reported an armed clash with Palestinian radical groups during a military operation in the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian news portal Palinfo, at least 7 Palestinians in Gaza were killed, with another 7 injured by Israeli forces. The Ma'an news agency noted that two commanders of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas organization that rules the Gaza Strip, were also found dead.

The situation in the region has deteriorated amid Egypt’s vigorous efforts to achieve a truce between Palestinian groups in Gaza and Israel. There were earlier reports that Cairo mediators have already made significant progress, but this outbreak of violence can lead to a new escalation of the conflict.