ISTANBUL, August 23. /TASS/. Only the US, which blocks initiatives in the UN Security Council for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip using the veto right, is capable of stopping Israel, the head of the Ankara Global Advisory Group Huseyin Bagci believes.

"Unfortunately, the world today has become Israel’s hostage primarily due to the fault of the US. Only Washington can stop it. For this it should refrain from using the veto power in the UNSC. In that case, Israel will be forced to stop the crimes and massacres it is committing in Gaza," the leading Turkish expert on international security issues told TASS.

In his opinion, no signs of a wish to achieve a settlement in Gaza has been seen in the US actions so far.

"The US has not yet done so and will not do so. At least until the presidential election is over, it will have no such wish," the expert said. He added that both US presidential candidates - the incumbent Vice-President Kamala Harris and the former president, Donald Trump, have not shown any intention to put pressure on Israel in their campaign speeches.

"They act as if nothing is happening, well aware that if they take any action against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this will affect domestic political processes," the expert said.

Dmitry Polyansky, Russia's first deputy permanent representative to the UN, said on August 22 that Russia was addressing the UN Security Council members with a proposal for developing and adopting a new document on the Middle East settlement, which will make it possible to stop violence in Gaza.

The situation in the Middle East sharply escalated after the infiltration of armed supporters of the radical Palestinian movement Hamas from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory on October 7, 2023, accompanied by killings of residents of border settlements and the capture of more than 240 hostages. In response, Israel launched a military operation in the enclave with the aim of destroying the Hamas military and political structure and securing the release of all those abducted. The fighting in the Gaza Strip has continues to this day.