MOSCOW, October 15. /TASS/. Russia and Qatar call for an immediate cessation of hostilities in the Middle East, the Russian foreign ministry said after a meeting between Russian presidential envoy for the Middle East and African countries and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and Qatari Ambassador to Moscow Sheikh Ahmed bin Nasser Al-Thani.

"The sides discussed current issues of the further development of the traditionally friendly Russian-Qatari relation, including closer cooperation in the trade-and-economic, investment, and cultural-and-humanitarian spheres. The diplomats also exchanged views on the Middle East agenda with a focus on the necessity of the soonest cessation of the armed confrontation in the Gaza Strip and in the vicinity of the Israel-Lebanese border, the situation in Yemen and in the Gulf area," the ministry said.

According to the ministry, the meeting was requested by the Qatari side.

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 250 Israelis. 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.

Israel has been delivering massive airstrikes on Hezbollah military targets in Lebanon since September 23, when it launched Operation Northern Arrows. Israel’s declared goal is to create safe conditions in the country’s northern areas so that tens of thousands of local residents could return to their homes. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was reportedly killed in Israel’s strike on Beirut on September 27. In the early hours on October 1, Israel announced the launch of a ground operation in Lebanon’s border areas.