Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov underscored on Saturday that it is "impossible" to eliminate Hamas without destroying Gaza and its population, emphasizing that the expulsion of two million Palestinians from the Strip would be a "catastrophe" for "many decades or even centuries" to come.
"We send signals to the Israelis about the need to seek a peaceful solution and not to complete the announced scorched ground strategy in Gaza," Lavrov said in an interview with Belta, adding that while Moscow strongly condemns the acts of "terrorism," it disagrees with "the indiscriminate use of force, including against targets with civilians."
The United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution on an immediate "humanitarian truce" in Gaza, with Russia being among the 120 nations voting in favor of the ceasefire proposal.