MOSCOW, October 20. /TASS/. Israel doesn’t so far see an agenda for any Palestine talks, including with the help of mediators and guarantors, Israeli Ambassador to Russia Alexander Ben Zvi told TASS.
"The initiative is certainly a good one, but I will underscore this again: First we need to agree about who to talk to and what to talk about. Apart from this issue of the guarantor system, there are other proposals from other countries. They all offer to be mediators, guarantors, and so on. But until we solve two questions - who to talk to and what to talk about - we will not be able to solve the third question: How we will do it. So let's first decide with whom and about what, and then we will think how," the diplomat said, commenting on Turkey's initiative to create a system of guarantor countries for the sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan earlier said Ankara plans to suggest to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation that it considers the idea of getting involved in the settlement of the conflict between Palestine and Israel on the basis of a system of guarantor countries for each side, which will have to assume responsibility for the implementation of the terms of the settlement.
The situation in the Middle East sharply escalated following an incursion of Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip into Israel on October 7. Hamas regards the attack as a response to Israeli actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Israel has declared a complete siege of the Gaza Strip and has started delivering strikes on that area and parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.