MOSCOW, August 26. /TASS/. Palestine asked Russia to help arrange a visit by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to Gaza, Palestinian Ambassador to Russia Abdel Hafiz Nofal said.

Abbas announced his intention to visit Gaza as he addressed the Turkish parliament on August 15.

"Mr. President's decision to go to the Gaza Strip is an attempt to make serious efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza," the ambassador said at a news conference. "We asked all brotherly and friendly nations for support in this issue. And we asked Russia, too."

According to the diplomat, Palestine also asked for help from the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly, and the country set up a special commission to work on the visit. Nofal said that at a time when the world is failing to resolve the situation in Gaza, "Mr. President's visit can be an important part of this issue that will help stop" the bloodshed.

"Unfortunately, Israel intends to maintain its positions on international platforms. Therefore, we are confident that the arrival of President Abbas in the Gaza Strip will be able to move the situation forward."

The situation in the Middle East sharply escalated following an incursion of Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip into Israel on October 7, accompanied by killings of residents of Israeli settlements near the border and taking hostages, including children, women and elderly people. Hamas regards the attack as a response to Israeli actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Israel has declared a complete siege of the Gaza Strip and has started delivering strikes on that area and parts of Lebanon and Syria. That was followed by an Israeli ground operation in the enclave.