ANKARA, November 29. /TASS/. Russia will assess Turkey’s proposed model of guarantees for Palestinians as soon as it becomes clear "what it means on the ground," Russian Ambassador to Turkey Alexey Yerkhov told the country’s Daily Sabah newspaper.
"As soon as we see what it means on the ground, we’ll be able to assess the concept. For the time being, as I can understand, this idea looks like it is not exactly tactical but strategic," the Russian diplomat was quoted as saying.
The ambassador added that the West, which lashed out at Russia when it began its special military operation in Ukraine, remained silent about the situation in the Gaza Strip.
"The use of double standards has always been one of the most amazing examples of the West’s hypocrisy and absence of impartiality. They never notice the sins and crimes of the one they love. They even try to present his lies and slander as the naked truth," Yerkhov continued.
In his words, the international law does not give the occupying side the right to bomb hospitals under the pretext of self-defense.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly offered to mediate the conflict between Israel and Palestine’s radical movement Hamas, proposing to convene an international peace conference on the issue. Erdogan also called upon Middle Eastern countries to create a security guarantee mechanism for Palestinians in order to bring peace to the region.
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 200 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly.
Hamas described its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ aggressive actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.