UNITED NATIONS, January 31. /TASS/. It will be impossible to restart the process of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict settlement without a ceasefire, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said.

"We have consistently and unwaveringly advocated an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. In the first place, we mean Gaza. However the forceful raids by the Israeli Armed Forces in the West Bank <…>, along with the shelling at the Blue Line with Lebanon and arbitrary strikes against Syrian territory must stop immediately," he told a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

"Without a cessation of hostilities, there can be no meaningful humanitarian access to all those in need, no release of all hostages and no recovery of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement process on an internationally recognized basis," the Russian envoy continued.

He went on to say that "UN leaders at all levels are unanimous" in their support for an urgent and widespread ceasefire as a prerequisite for rendering humanitarian assistance on proper scale.