MOSCOW, October 12. /TASS/. The European Union should engage itself in the process of seeking a settlement to the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict, otherwise millions of refugees will flood EU countries, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"The EU should be the first to get involved in [seeking] a peaceful settlement because, if they fail to say something substantive in support of political and diplomatic avenues toward resolving the situation, millions of refugees will beat a path to the EU countries," she said on the sidelines of the TASS roundtable "Russia-Turkey: The Role of Media in Boosting Cooperation," in response to questions from the Turkish media.
The diplomat emphasized that the refugee situation was similar "when conflicts were unfolding in Syria, Libya, Yemen and other countries in the region."
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the radical Palestinian Hamas movement staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem. Israel has announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip as it has been delivering rocket attacks on Gaza as well as some districts in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.
More than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed since the renewed outbreak of violence, while over 6,000 others have suffered wounds. In Israel, over 1,500 people lost their lives and roughly 4,000 have been wounded.