MOSCOW, October 26. /TASS/. United Nations Security Council’s resolution on the Middle East settlement should be balanced and calling for a ceasefire instead of condemning any particular sides of the conflict, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

"We must keep exerting efforts. We must keep striving to reach a balanced variant - we are positive that our variant was more balanced," Peskov said adding that "everyone should be urged for calling a ceasefire and there should not be condemnations regarding any particular side."

On October 25, the US-initiated draft resolution on the Middle East settlement received the support of ten countries Russia, China and the United Arab Emirates voted against it and two other countries abstained.

The US draft resolution condemned the attack by the radical Palestinian movement Hamas on Israel, and called for release of hostages and compliance with international humanitarian law. However, the document did not stipulate a ceasefire, but recognized countries’ right to defend themselves.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the Gaza-based Palestinian radical group Hamas staged a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. 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.

In response, Israel has announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, and has begun delivering air strikes on the enclave and certain parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are underway in the West Bank as well.