MOSCOW, October 13. /TASS/. The settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict remains at an impasse due to the one-sided stance of the United States, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.
"The one-sided stance of the Americans has for many years kept the situation in a deadlock. The Middle East ‘quartet’ of international intermediaries was not employed," the Russian president said at the CIS (the Commonwealth of Independent States) Council of Heads of State.
Putin noted that the United States resorted to far-fetched pretexts to stall the work of the Middle East Quartet (comprised of Russia, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations), a unique format that was authorized by a relevant UN Resolution mandate.
"Actually, there was an attempt to solve the political problem, the core problem, namely the formation of an independent Palestinian state, through certain economic incentives," Putin said. "But all this, along with the settlement activities, gradually led to the present-day tragedy."
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when Palestinian militants from the Hamas movement attacked Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. According to the latest official data, almost 1,500 Palestinians have been killed since the renewed outbreak of violence, while over 7,200 have suffered wounds. In Israel, more than 1,500 people have lost their lives and about 4,000 have been wounded.
Hamas described its operation as a response to the aggressive actions of the Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem. Israel has declared a state of readiness for war and announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians.