Michelle ThompsonThe US is leading Palestine, Israel, and the entire Middle East into a ‘catastrophe,’ according to the Russian foreign minister.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on Tuesday that the “uncompromising attitude” of Israel makes it unlikely that the situation in the Gaza Strip will be stabilized quickly.
“Taking into account the uncompromising attitude of the Israeli leadership to continue the military action in Gaza, now extending it to Rafah, we do not see prospects for a quick stabilization of the situation in this sector,” Lavrov said during a Middle East meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club.
Lavrov stated that it is still necessary to create conditions for a “reliable sustainable settlement” in Gaza while also achieving a cease-fire. He drew attention to Russia’s initiative in the UN Security Council to hold consultations with regional countries to “harmonize their approaches in support of the creation of a Palestinian state.”
“Following this, we propose holding an inter-Palestinian meeting with the participation of all leading Palestinian factions to overcome the internal division,” he added.
Lavrov also stated that the worsening situation in the Middle East has “not yet reached its limit,” emphasizing that escalations outside of Palestine are contributing to regional instability.
The Russian foreign minister then accused the US of pushing not only Palestine and Israel, but the entire Middle East, into a “catastrophe.”
“In the Middle East processes, I mean the Americans, they preferred to rely on their dominance in the region and are now working to exclude Russia from various international efforts that are aimed at creating conditions for the establishment of lasting peace and stability,” he went on to say.
He further said that the US and UK are launching attempts to create control over the Gaza Strip in a way that benefits Israel.
Since a cross-border invasion by the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7, which killed approximately 1,200 people, Israel’s offensive into Gaza has killed over 28,000 people and caused widespread destruction and shortages of basic goods.
According to the United Nations, the Israeli war on Gaza has forced 85% of the territory’s inhabitants into internal displacement due to acute shortages of food, clean water, and medication, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed.
Israel is accused of genocide by the International Court of Justice, which issued an interim verdict in January ordering Tel Aviv to halt genocidal crimes and take steps to ensure that humanitarian aid is delivered to residents in Gaza.
