MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/. Russia thinks it unacceptable to attack civilian facilities either on Israeli or Palestinian territories, Russian Presidential Special Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said in a telephone conversation with Mousa Abu Marzook, Deputy Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, on Wednesday.

"The Russian side emphasized that it was crucial to immediately put an end to violence, that it was inadmissible to attack civilians regardless of their ethnic or religious identity, including strikes on civilian facilities on the Israeli and Palestinian territories," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

According to the ministry, Abu-Marzook "outlined his assessments and considerations in the wake of a dramatic escalation of armed confrontation between Israel and Palestinians, placing an emphasis on illegal nature of Israelis’ actions against Palestinian inhabitants of East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, as well as on the unacceptability of shelling residential areas in the Gaza Strip."

"On behalf of the Hamas leadership, Abu Marzook assured that the movement stays ready to stop any military actions against Israel on a reciprocal basis and upon the understanding that the international community will exert the necessary pressure on the Israeli side to halt their operations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem and illegal measures against its original Arab inhabitants," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The phone call was requested by the Palestinian side.

Since Monday, the Israeli army and Palestinian groups located in the Gaza Strip have been exchanging strikes sparked by the clashes at Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, which erupted at the beginning of May. To date, more than 1,000 rockets have been fired into Israel from Gaza. Most of the launches have been intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system, but some rockets fell on the streets of Israeli cities. Several Israelis were killed and dozens more were wounded. Palestinians say that at least 43 have been killed, including 13 children, and 296 wounded in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.