RABAT, January 9. /TASS/. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has discussed the current developments in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank with Norwegian Special Representative to the Middle East Peace Process Hilde Haraldstad, Palestine’s WAFA news agency reported on Tuesday.

According to the agency, during the meeting with Haraldstad, Premier Shtayyeh said: "The priority is to stop the aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, deliver aid, prevent the displacement of Palestinians there and occupation of parts of its land, open all crossings, restore electricity and water, and stop all violations and attacks by the occupation army and colonists against the Palestinian people in the West Bank, including Jerusalem."

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023 after militants of the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas launched a surprise incursion into Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 200 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly.

Hamas described its attack as a response to the Israeli authorities’ aggressive actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Israel has declared a complete siege of the Gaza Strip and started a military operation there. Israel is also striking parts of Lebanon and Syria in retaliation for attacks originating from those countries. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.