MOSCOW, November 21. /TASS/. Russia does not support terrorism in any form but does not believe the fight against it should violate humanitarian law, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, commenting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"I would like to reiterate that we condemn each and every form of terrorism but when it comes to the fight against terrorism, there is a need to use methods that neither suggest collective punishment nor run counter to international humanitarian law, or rather, frankly speaking, blatantly violate it," the top Russian diplomat pointed out at a meeting with his counterparts from a number of Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation member states.
Tensions in the Middle East flared up again after Hamas militants infiltrated Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, killing residents of border settlements and taking people hostage. The Palestinian movement described its attack as a response to the actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Israel announced a total blockade of Gaza and started carrying out strikes on the Palestinian enclave, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria.