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Kremlin urges both parties to Palestinian-Israeli conflict to show restraint

Moscow is alarmed by the growing number of fatalities among civilians in the Arab-Israeli standoff, the spokesman said

MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/. Moscow is alarmed by the growing number of fatalities among civilians in the Arab-Israeli standoff and urges both parties to show restraint, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Wednesday.

"We are urging both parties to show restraint. We are alarmed by the growing number of casualties among the civilians and indiscriminate shelling that harms the civilians," the Kremlin representative said.

The parties to the conflict should try to normalize the situation using the appropriate resolutions of the UN Security Council on this issue, Dmitry Peskov said.

"Both parties should find the strength to settle the problem, proceeding from, above all, the effective resolutions of the UN Security Council," he said.

The Israel Defense Forces and Palestinian radicals from the Gaza Strip have been exchanging missile strikes since Monday. To date, more than one thousand missiles have been launched from Gaza towards Israel. The majority of them were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system yet some missiles hit Israeli streets. Several Israelis were killed, dozens were wounded. Palestine, in turn, reports at least 43 fatalities, including 13 children, and 296 wounded as a result of Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip

The exchange of missile strikes followed an outburst of unrest near the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City in early May. Clashes between the Palestinians and the Israeli police were triggered by an Israeli court ruling to seize dwelling houses in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood from Arab families who have been living there for more than 50 years in favor of Jewish resettlers who had reportedly owned these buildings before 1948.