MINSK, Oct. 26 (TASS) - Russia calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, as well as for negotiations on the establishment of a Palestinian state, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"Russia condemns terrorist actions and all other actions that violate international humanitarian law and cause harm to the civilian population, and calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and the resumption of negotiations on the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, which was solemnly promised to the Palestinians almost 75 years ago," the top diplomat said at a plenary session of a high-level conference on Eurasian security in Minsk.

According to Lavrov, Washington's attempts to monopolize the Middle East settlement process have led to the current disastrous situation. "Given the West's destructive line to undermine the sustainable development of Eurasia, its lack of readiness for fair competition and joint work, the task of forming a new continental architecture of equal and indivisible security is more urgent than ever, which is actually the goal of the conference created on the initiative of Belarusian President [Alexander Lukashenko], an architecture maximally open to the widest possible range of states ready for equal and constructive interaction," the Russian foreign minister said.

According to Lavrov, one of the main goals is to "sew" Eurasia into a unified space to face common challenges in the name of peace and prosperity of all its peoples.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the Gaza-based Palestinian radical group Hamas staged a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. 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 announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and began delivering air strikes on the enclave and certain parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are underway in the West Bank of the Jordan River as well.

Photo from TASS