UNITED NATIONS, October 21. /TASS/. The United States has become hostage to its own short-sighted policy in the Middle East, as the Israeli authorities openly act without regard to the Joe Biden-led administration, Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, has told TASS in an interview.
"Since the adoption of [UN Security Council] Resolution 2735 (in support of a ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas movement - TASS), the situation has gone out of control. The Israeli leadership began to act without regard for the Americans and to carry out various high-profile operations, including the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah without prior coordination with them. The Israelis have openly opted for a forceful solution to the Palestinian issue, as well as their confrontation with Iran - ideally with the full involvement of the United States. That is, it turns out that the Americans have become hostages to their own short-sighted initiatives," Nebenzya emphasized.
The current US policy "ditches the possibility of resuming the dialogue on the Gaza ceasefire, jeopardizes the security and sovereignty of Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and exacerbates the risk of plunging the entire region into the abyss of conflict."
"Under such conditions, without a ceasefire, it is simply pointless to talk about adopting new humanitarian products of the Security Council or plans for the future. Reversing the situation requires the sincere political will of all fifteen [Security Council] members without exception to achieve peace in the Middle East. In the meantime, the US is acting virtually in concert with Israel, or cannot afford to contradict it, or is simply unable to influence Tel Aviv," he pointed out.
"Our common task is to ensure the implementation of Security Council and UNGA resolutions, to stop the bloodshed that is close to overwhelming the entire Middle East. The key thing is to guarantee the enforcement of the Palestinians' legitimate right to self-determination, which would enable them to create a territorially homogenous and viable state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, which would coexist in peace and harmony with Israel," Nebenzya said.
The situation in the Middle East sharply escalated after the infiltration of Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory on October 7 last year, accompanied by killings of residents in border settlements and hostage-taking. In response, Israel launched an operation in Gaza with the aim to destroy the military and political infrastructure of the radical movement and free all those abducted.