UNITED NATIONS, November 11. /TASS/. The United States’ blocking of peace initiatives on Gaza escalated the conflict, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said.

"Washington’s blocking of peace initiatives for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip at this point and its one-sided policy of the past few years, aimed at preserving the status quo (which is what they [the Americans] said), as well as it’s so-called quiet diplomacy, in fact were nothing but an unwillingness to implement what countries and nations had agreed on. The lack of any progress in the negotiation process was sure to lead to an escalation," he noted at a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East.

"We would like to reiterate that this in turn may trigger an expansion of the conflict and fuel other potential and simmering conflicts in the region," Nebenzya added.

Tensions in the Middle East flared up again on October 7 after militants from the radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of border communities and taking people, including women, children and the elderly, hostage. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel announced a total blockade of Gaza and launched ground operations in the enclave, also carrying out air strikes on targets in the Strip, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.