MOSCOW, October 26. /TASS/. Russian officials are maintaining close contact with the Arab League and other regional players to try to prevent the conflict in the Middle East from escalating, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said in a Rossiya-24 TV broadcast.

"There is a danger of the conflict escalating; our task is to prevent this from happening. It is this precise task that we are carrying out via those contacts that we have not only in New York, but also bilaterally with all those who can [potentially] influence the situation. First of all, with the regional players. First of all, with the Arab League, but also with Israel," the senior diplomat said.

Vershinin explained there is a danger of the conflict escalating, judging by the information coming from the region. "I am talking about the clashes that are taking place between Israel and Lebanon," the deputy foreign minister continued. "I'm talking about Israel's arbitrary attacks on facilities in Syria. And, naturally, what is happening is not just in the Gaza Strip, but also in another part of the occupied Palestinian territory on the West Bank of the Jordan River."

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 as well.