MOSCOW, December 12. /TASS/. Palestine and Russia have agreed to set new dates for the visit of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to Moscow, the state’s ambassador to Russia Abdel Hafiz Nofal told reporters.

Abbas had planned to visit Russia in the fall, but the visit was eventually postponed indefinitely. On November 27, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told reporters that Abbas's visit had not yet been arranged and that there was no approximate date for his arrival in Russia, but that "contacts are continuing."

"Mahmoud Abbas is always happy to visit Moscow. But because of the situation, we have agreed - the Russian and Palestinian sides - to set new dates for this visit," Nofal said.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 200 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. 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 declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also underway in the West Bank.