He stressed that the Hamas attack is not a justification for Israel to impose collective punishment on the Palestinian people, and called for international monitoring on the ground in Gaza, adding: “We have told Israel for many years that the single most dangerous factor in the Middle East is the failure to resolve the status of a Palestinian state.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the Hamas movement’s attack on Israeli towns in the south and the “Gaza Envelope” area, on October 7, did not happen in a vacuum, stressing that Moscow communicates exclusively with the movement’s political wing and that “these contacts made it possible to Reaching an agreement to release detainees, to which Israel responded positively.

He stressed that the Hamas attack is not a justification for Israel to impose collective punishment on the Palestinian people, and called for international monitoring on the ground in Gaza, adding: “We have told Israel for many years that the single most dangerous factor in the Middle East is the failure to resolve the status of the Palestinian state.”

The Russian Foreign Minister's statements were made in an online speech within the activities of the Doha Forum 2023. Lavrov said, "We have relations with the political wing of the Hamas movement. We have made contact with its representatives in Doha to negotiate the fate of the hostages among our citizens, in addition to citizens from a number of countries neighboring Russia and other countries." We were able to reach an agreement, and the reaction of the Israeli side was positive.”

Lavrov stressed in his speech that Russia will continue to exert political pressure to achieve a humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. He also stressed that decisions related to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and how to address it require some kind of oversight on the ground.

Lavrov called for the implementation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding the establishment of a Palestinian state on the basis of the principles approved by the United Nations.

These statements by the Russian Foreign Minister came as the Kremlin Press Office announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin assured the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, of Russia's readiness to contribute to reducing the escalation in Gaza.

The statement quoted Putin as telling Netanyahu, "The Russian side is ready to provide all possible assistance in order to alleviate the suffering of civilians and calm the conflict."

For his part, Netanyahu expressed his "dissatisfaction" with Moscow's vote in favor of a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the war in the Gaza Strip, according to what his office announced in a statement on Sunday.

Netanyahu said in a statement that he spoke to Putin on Sunday and “expressed his dissatisfaction with the positions expressed by Russian representatives against Israel in the United Nations and other forums.”