UNITED NATIONS, September 28. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called for full implementation of the UN Security Council resolution that sets out de-escalation commitments of Israel and Hezbollah and harsh action against its violators.

"We consistently and invariably proceed from the need for full and comprehensive implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701, which spells out both Israel's obligations to cease all offensive military operations, withdraw its armed forces from South Lebanon and end the occupation of Lebanese lands, and Hezbollah's obligations to withdraw all formations north of the Litania River," the minister said at a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including Palestine.

"Literally today an order was given to bomb Beirut," Lavrov said.

He then called on the sides "to immediately cease hostilities, which would prevent further bloodshed and create conditions for a political and diplomatic settlement." "The Security Council is not just a platform for exchanging views on the most pressing global issues. It is also the main body for maintaining international peace and security, a body that has a number of time-tested tools to enforce its decisions," Lavrov continued. "Harsh measures must be taken against violators of [UN Security Council] resolutions, without which our decisions will continue to remain on paper."

According to the minister, UNSC members need to "put the interests of the Palestinian and Israeli peoples above the narrow self-serving political calculations of individual figures and demand an immediate ceasefire, the release of all illegally detained persons and full and unimpeded humanitarian access.".