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Israeli police patrol during clashes between Arabs, police and Jews, in the mixed town of Lod, central Israel on May 12, 2021. /AP
The President of Russia Vladimir Putin and the Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres and on Thursday called for an end to the fighting between Israel and Palestinians.
Putin held a meeting via videoconference with Guterres, who is in Moscow on a working visit.
A statement by the Kremlin said that the two leaders had added their voice to the calls for an end to the clashes that have rocked the Gaza Strip since Monday.
"In light of the recent escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, they agreed that the current priority is to stop violence on both sides and ensure the safety of the civilian population," said the Kremlin. "They expressed support for the two-state solution based on the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and generally recognized international legal norms."
According to AFP, the Israeli army has launched hundreds of air strikes on the Gaza Strip while Palestinian militants have launched more than 1,000 rockets in some of the worst violence in seven years.
Israel is also reported to be preparing combat troops and is in "various stages of preparing ground operations," a move that would recall similar incursions during the Israel-Gaza wars in 2014 and 2008-2009.
An earlier statement from Guterres' spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the UN chief "called on the international community to take action to enable the parties to step back from the brink and return to the previous understandings that have maintained a relative calm in Gaza and avoid a descent into chaos, with the massive casualties and immense damage to civilian infrastructure that would result."
(With input from agencies)
