MOSCOW, October 9. /TASS/. The League of Arab States (LAS) rejects violence on both sides of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and calls for an immediate ceasefire, the Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said at negotiations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
"We unconditionally reject violence, but from both sides [of the conflict]," he said.
In this regard, the Arab League Chief he noted that over the past six months, "every day, Israeli troops have killed three to five Palestinians in the West Bank." In addition, he said, there were "constant provocations by Israeli settlers against Palestinians on [their] sacred sites."
The Arab League Secretary General also stressed that he fully shares Lavrov’s point of view about "the importance and necessity of reaching an agreement on an immediate ceasefire" between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Israel came under missile attack from the Gaza Strip on the morning of October 7. Simultaneously, several groups of Palestinian militants from the Hamas movement infiltrated the Jewish state. The Israeli authorities approved a previously announced decision to put the country in a "state of war." The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced they was launching Operation Iron Swords in retaliation for the attack launched from the Palestinian exclave. Hamas Politburo Head Ismail Haniyeh described the Palestinian operation as a response to aggressive actions by the Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant authorized the callup of reservists and ordered that "the special security situation" be expanded nationwide. According to the latest data, about 500 Palestinians have been killed and another 2,700 wounded. In Israel, more than 700 people have been killed and more than 2,300 wounded.