MOSCOW, October 9. /TASS/. The political process being blocked by the United States and the European Union has triggered the current Palestinian-Israeli escalation, Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov told the Rossiya-24 TV channel.
"All interested states, Israel, its neighbors, and the international community are at a bit of a loss over this latest outbreak of violence occurring so unexpectedly. It seems that there is no clear reason for such a sharp escalation, but in fact we need to look for the reasons in the fact that the political process has effectively been blocked for a long time. It was blocked by the efforts of the United States of America and the European Union, which is hastily adjusting its policies to line up with the interests of the United States," he said.
As the ambassador noted, the political process is monopolized and usurped by Washington.
"This is an attempt to replace it with some new security architecture without due consideration for the just desire of the Palestinians to create their own, independent state within 1967 borders. <...> This is the main provision of the settlement that has not been fulfilled for 75 years, and it is causing these relapses,' the diplomat said.
Israel came under missile attack from the Gaza Strip on the morning of October 7. Simultaneously, several groups of Palestinian militants from the Hamas movement infiltrated the Jewish state. The Israeli authorities approved a previously announced decision to put the country in a "state of war." The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced they was launching Operation Iron Swords in retaliation for the attack launched from the Palestinian exclave. Hamas Politburo Head Ismail Haniyeh described the Palestinian operation as a response to aggressive actions by the Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant authorized the callup of reservists and ordered that "the special security situation" be expanded nationwide. According to the latest data, about 500 Palestinians have been killed and another 2,700 wounded. In Israel, more than 700 people have been killed and more than 2,200 wounded.