MOSCOW, October 7. /TASS/. Russia expresses serious concern about the sharp escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"Moscow expresses the most serious concern about the serios aggravation of the situation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone," the diplomat said. "In this regard, we reiterate our principled and consistent position that this 75-year-long conflict has no forceful solution and can only be resolved through political and diplomatic means, through the establishment of a full-fledged negotiation process on a well-known international legal basis, providing for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, with its capital in East Jerusalem, living in peace and security with Israel," she said.

Russia also sees a large-scale escalation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as a result of non-compliance with UN Security Council decisions and the West's obstruction of the Middle East quartet's efforts, Zakharova said.

"We regard the current large-scale escalation of the situation as another extremely dangerous manifestation of a vicious circle of violence, which is a direct consequence of the systemic non-compliance with the relevant resolutions of the UN and its Security Council and the blocking by the West of the work of the Middle East quartet of international mediators consisting of Russia, the USA, the EU and the UN," the statement said.

At the same time, Russia believes that Palestine and Israel must start negotiations and Russia urges both sides to abandon violence and cease fire. "We call on the Palestinian and Israeli sides for an immediate ceasefire, renunciation of violence, the exercise of necessary restraint and the establishment, with the assistance of the international community, of a negotiation process aimed at establishing a comprehensive, lasting and long-awaited peace in the Middle East," Zakharova said.

Early on Saturday morning, rocket attacks were launched on Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Alarm signals have sounded continuously since 06:28 Moscow time in many localities across the country, including the Tel Aviv area and its environs.

The military operation of the Israel Defense Forces in the Gaza Strip in response to the massive rocket fire launched on Saturday from the Palestinian side is now called "Iron Swords," the army press service reported. The Israeli army has launched attacks on the Gaza Strip after massive rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave, the army press service reported earlier on Saturday.

The militant wing of the Palestinian movement Hamas issued a statement that during the operation in Israel it captured about 35 Israeli soldiers and settlers. The operation initiated by Palestinian radicals in Israeli territory next to the Gaza Strip is a response to Israel's aggressive activities against one of Islam's holiest sites, the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City, Chief of Hamas's Political Bureau Hamas Politburo Ismail Haniyeh said.