ASTANA, January 25. /TASS/. The UN International Court of Justice in The Hague should legally classify Israel's actions against Palestinians during the military operation in the Gaza Strip as genocide, Russian Special Presidential Representative for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev said at a press conference following the 21st international Astana meeting on Syria.

"The tragic events in the Gaza Strip are inhumane," he said. "When [there are] so many victims in a short time, including women and children, it is certainly a real crime. It can even be interpreted as genocide, although the corresponding legal basis should be provided by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, where South Africa has filed a lawsuit to recognize Israel's actions against the Palestinian people as genocide."

The threat of a major war

According to the Russian envoy, the meeting participants focused on the situation in and around the Gaza Strip because "the policy of permissiveness of the Israeli right-wing leadership could lead to extremely negative consequences for the entire Middle East region." "If the war in the Gaza Strip continues, it will inevitably spill over to Lebanon and to Syria, and if these countries are involved, other powers in the Middle East region will also suffer," he warned. "I think no one wants this to happen. It must be prevented by all means possible."

The only option to achieve a settlement is to "address the issue of the formation of a Palestinian state immediately," Lavrentyev believes. "Therefore, the international community will have to do very scrupulous work, as soon as possible, to persuade Israel to stop fighting in the Gaza Strip and actually come to the negotiating table with the Palestinians to talk over the issue of a two-state system," he emphasized. "The entire region must not be allowed to flare up again and turn into a big conflict region."