PYONGYANG, October 19. /TASS/. Russia is ready to discuss and consider Turkey’s initiative to establish a guarantor system in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with Moscow and Ankara staying in touch on the issue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters in Pyongyang.

"We are ready to discuss any constructive proposals. The said initiative <…> is clearly driven by the intention to de-escalate things and bring the situation back to normal," Russia’s top diplomat said.

To him, the Turkish initiative is rooted in the desire to ensure a balance of interests, rather than imposing one parties' interests at the expense of another's. "We are ready to work together to consider this [initiative]," Lavrov added.

Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced Ankara’s plans to address the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) with a proposal to join forces to resolve the conflict between Palestine and Israel based on a guarantor system.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the Gaza-based Palestinian radical group Hamas staged a surprise incursion into 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 on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and began delivering air strikes on the enclave and certain parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are underway in the West Bank of the Jordan River as well.