MOSCOW, March 7 Number of voting stations Russian presidential elections in Israel were reduced to three due to the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Ambassador at Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Gennady Askaldovich said in an interview.
«In connection with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the number of polling stations in Israel has been reduced. This time there will be only three, as opposed to ten in the 2018 elections,» Askaldovich said.
The ambassador also noted that voting will not be held in the Palestinian territories. “When organizing the elections, we took into account the internal political situation in individual countries, including armed conflicts and internal civil strife. For this reason, polling stations have not been created in the Palestinian territories, and elections will not be held there,” he added.
Speaking about voting in the Middle East and North Africa, Askaldovich noted the work of polling stations in Libya and Sudan.
“At the same time, after a long break, we organized a polling station in Libya, where early voting has already taken place. Despite the vicissitudes of the civil war, the polling station will also operate on the basis of the Russian embassy in Sudan in the city of Port Sudan,” the ambassador said.
The Federation Council has scheduled presidential elections for March 17, 2024. Voting will last three days: March 15, 16 and 17. Four candidates registered by the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation are vying for the post of head of state: Leonid Slutsky, Nikolai Kharitonov, Vladislav Davankov and Vladimir Putin.
On 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. After this, the organization’s fighters entered the border areas in southern Israel, where they opened fire on both military and civilians, and also took more than 200 hostages. In Israel, according to the latest data from the authorities, about 1.2 thousand people were killed, this number includes civilians, soldiers, foreign citizens and workers, and it was also reported that more than 5 thousand were injured.
In response, the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Iron Swords against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Within a few days, the Israeli military took control of all populated areas near the border with Gaza and began carrying out 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, and fuel was stopped. At the end of October, the ground phase of the Israeli operation in the enclave began. Gaza City was surrounded by Israeli ground forces, and the enclave was effectively divided into southern and northern parts.
The number of people killed in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip exceeded 30 thousand, more than 72 thousand people were injured, the Gaza Ministry of Health reported. 
December 30, 2023, 11:25 InfographicsRussian presidential elections: stages of the election campaignView
Hamas claimed that there were about 200-250 hostages in the Gaza Strip. After the end of the truce, Israeli authorities announced that 126 Israelis and 11 foreigners remained hostage from Hamas, and 110 abducted were released.
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 only 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 the 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.