MOSCOW, December 12. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian have expressed concern over the continued escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the worsening humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

"Separate attention was given to the current situation in the zone of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. [The sides] expressed mutual concern over its continued escalation and the aggravated humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. [They] stressed the importance of an immediate ceasefire and providing emergency aid to the affected civilian population as well as engaging the UN’s authority toward this end," the Russian Foreign Ministry said following a phone conversation held on December 11 on the initiative of the Iranian side.

The Russian foreign policy agency informed that the two top diplomats had discussed in detail the pertinent issues of bilateral cooperation based on the results of expanded talks between the presidents of both countries held in Moscow on December 7. "It was agreed to accelerate work on finalizing a new ‘major’ transnational agreement which is in the end stages," the Foreign Ministry said.

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 has declared a state of war readiness; announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians; and began delivering air strikes on the enclave and certain parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are underway in the West Bank as well.