MOSCOW, November 30. /TASS/. What is happening in the Middle East is a manifestation of ill-conceived tactics, and Western countries are "shooting themselves in the foot," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said.

"What we are seeing now in the Middle East is actually a manifestation of ill-conceived tactics; Western countries are shooting themselves in the foot," he said at the 5th International Conference titled "World Majority in New Realities: Regional Dimension" at the Higher School of Economics (HSE University). According to the senior diplomat, such an approach "further alienates other states from" the West.

"The West is trying with all its might to hold on to the remnants of its global dominance, resorting to blatant neo-colonial methods, which is causing rejection by the majority of the world's countries," Rudenko said.

He pointed out that the West's goal is "simple and cynical": to secure its interests at the expense of others.

"We, as well as our like-minded allies among the world majority, are not ready to tolerate such a state of affairs," the deputy minister concluded.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 200 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. 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 declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also underway in the West Bank.