MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/. Russian Presidential Special Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and Hamas political bureau member Mousa Abu Marzook expressed concern over the Israeli army's plans to seize Rafah, the Russian Foreign Ministry said following their phone call.

"During the conversation the current situation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone was discussed with an emphasis on the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, deep concern was expressed about the Israeli army's plans to seize the city of Rafah and the possible tragic consequences of this, including the scenario of displacing a million residents of the Palestinian enclave to the territory of Egypt," the ministry said.

"In this context, the need for urgent measures from the international community to prevent this scenario was emphasized," the Foreign Ministry added.

On February 7, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had been ordered to prepare for the start of fighting in Rafah on the Gaza Strip’s southern border with Egypt. Two days later, he instructed the IDF to prepare a plan to evacuate civilians and eliminate the remaining four battalions of fighters from Palestinian radical movement Hamas in the city.

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.

On December 1, the Israeli army accused Hamas of violating the truce that had been in effect since November 24 and announced that it would resume fighting in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian authorities held the United States responsible for the renewed Israeli aggression.