MOSCOW, Oct. 16 Already over 50 civilians, the majority women and children were killed Monday in the Gaza Strip due to Israeli airstrikes, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said.
«More than 50 civilians, mostly women and children, have been killed and dozens wounded since Monday morning in raids carried out by military aircraft of the occupiers,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports on the social network X.
On the morning of October 7, Israel was subjected to an unprecedented-scale rocket attack from the Gaza Strip as part of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, announced by the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement. In addition, after massive rocket attacks, the organization’s fighters penetrated into the border areas in southern Israel. In response, the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Iron Swords against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Within days of the attack, the Israeli military took control of all settlements near the Gaza border and began conducting air strikes on targets, including civilians, in the strip. Israel also announced a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip: the supply of water, food, electricity, medicine, fuel has been suspended.
The number of victims in the Gaza Strip exceeded 2 thousand people, and the death toll of Israeli residents exceeded a thousand; several thousand Israelis and Palestinians were injured. Several dead and missing Russians, as well as citizens of other countries, were reported. According to various sources, Hamas may hold about 150 Israelis captive.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called on the parties to stop hostilities. According to the position of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the settlement of the Middle East crisis is possible exclusively on the basis of a “two-state” formula approved by the UN Security Council, which provides for the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict related to territorial interests of the parties, has been a source of tension and clashes in the region for many decades. A UN decision with the active role of the USSR in 1947 determined the creation of two states — Israel and Palestine, but only the Israeli one was created. Israel, while declaring agreement with the two-state principle, did not completely liberate the Palestinian territories.