Russia says Israel bombing of Gaza against international law
Russia’s foreign minister said that Israel’s retaliation against Hamas terrorists in Gaza is against international law, and will lead to a crisis that will last decades.
Sergei Lavrov made his comments — the Kremlin’s most critical of Israel so far — in an interview with Belarus’s state news agency Belta reported Saturday.
“While we condemn terrorism, we categorically disagree that you can respond to terrorism by violating the norms of international humanitarian law, including indiscriminately using force against targets where civilians are known to be present, including hostages that have been taken,” Lavrov told the news agency.
“If Gaza is destroyed and two million inhabitants are expelled, as some politicians in Israel and abroad propose, this will create a catastrophe for many decades, if not centuries,” he added.
“It is necessary to stop, and to announce humanitarian programs to save the population under blockade.”
Russia has called for an immediate ceasefire in the region.
This week, the Kremlin rolled out the red carpet for senior leaders of Hamas in Moscow, angering Israeli officials.
Israel-Hamas war: How we got here
2005: Israel unilaterally withdraws from the Gaza Strip over three decades after winning the territory from Egypt in the Six-Day War.
2006: Terrorist group Hamas wins a Palestinian legislative election.
2007: Hamas seizes control of Gaza in a civil war.
2008: Israel launches military offensive against Gaza after Palestinian terrorists fired rockets into the town of Sderot.
2023: Hamas launches the biggest attack on Israel in 50 years, in an early-morning ambush Oct. 7, firing thousands of rockets and sending dozens of militants into Israeli towns.
Terrorists killed more than 1,400 Israelis, wounded more than 4,200, and took at least 200 hostage.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to announce “We are at war,” and vowed Hamas would pay “a price it has never known.”
Gaza health officials — which are controlled by Hamas — report at least 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 12,500 injured since the war began.
Russian Foreign Ministry officials met with Hamas leaders Bassem Naeem and Mousa Abu Marzouk on Thursday.
They posed with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, Putin’s special envoy in the Middle East — who also met Thursday with Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Ali Bagheri Kani.
The bombings followed a raid on Oct. 7 by Hamas terrorists in Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,400 Israelis, most of them civilians.
Follow along with The Post’s live blog for the latest on Hamas’ attack on Israel
Hamas also took more than 200 hostages.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza reported Friday that 7,326 Palestinians had been killed since Israel’s bombardment began.
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