UNITED NATIONS, December 29. /TASS/. Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya has called for beginning the work on a lasting Palestinian-Israeli settlement.

"So far, the political horizon many are talking about, regrettably, is not seen, but it is important to work already now on the restoration of the political horizon in the process of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement on generally recognized basis of international law, which envisages the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders and a capital in East Jerusalem co-existing in peace and security with Israel. Only such a balanced, unbiased and international law-based approach rather than attempts to economically reconcile a number of Arab states with Israel without a fair solution to the Palestinian problem can lead to a lasting peace in the Middle East," he said at a UN Security Council meeting.

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.