UNITED NATIONS, March 18. /TASS/. Russia calls on the Israeli authorities to immediately cease hostilities in the Gaza Strip and lift restrictions on humanitarian operations in the occupied Palestinian territories, First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said.

The Russian diplomat pointed out that "the humanitarian crisis in the enclave has reached a truly biblical scale." "We call on the Israeli authorities to immediately cease fire and lift restrictions on humanitarian operations for the entire occupied Palestinian territory, including the Gaza Strip and the West Bank," he said at a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East.

Polyansky emphasized that Russia strongly condemns Israel's actions, seeing them as the "key obstacle to alleviating the suffering of two million Gazans."

"We are convinced that the vicious circle of mutual violence and bloodshed in the Middle East cannot be broken without a just and viable settlement that guarantees the rights and aspirations of the Palestinians to establish their own state within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem," the diplomat emphasized.

On March 18, the Israel Defense Forces reported large-scale attacks on Hamas facilities in the Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the move was due to Hamas' rejection of proposals made during talks with mediators and US special envoy Steve Witkoff. According to the latest figures from the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 400 people have been killed and at least 562 injured in the latest round of escalation of tensions.