Palestine Welcomes Russian Efforts to Revive Middle East Quartet - Ambassador

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th May, 2021) Palestine welcomes Russia's efforts to reassemble the middle East Quartet to mediate an end to fighting in Israel and the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian ambassador to Russia told Sputnik on Monday.

"We welcome any effort of Russia's to this end and greatly appreciate Russia's help and support at the official level," Abdel Hafiz Nofal said.

Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians boiled over last Monday, with Israeli military and the Gazan authority Hamas exchanging thousands of cross-border strikes over the week.

Ten died and 50 were wounded seriously in Israel. Palestine reported 220 deaths, 58 of them children.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday called for an urgent meeting of the four international mediators Russia, the United States, the United Nations and the European Union to defuse the crisis.

Nofal told Sputnik that the mediators needed to revive negotiations on a two-state solution to the decades-old land dispute. He criticized the United States for allowing Israel to act "outside of the international legal framework."