Israeli–Palestinian conflict:

Palestinian Prime Minister Holds Unity Government Meeting in Gaza: Reports

MOSCOW, October 9 (RIA Novosti) - The prime minister of Palestine Rami Hamdallah has held the first meeting of his unity government in Gaza, Al Arabiya reported Thursday.

"I come to you representing President Mahmoud Abbas and, as head of the government of national consensus, to assume our responsibilities, see your needs and launch a comprehensive workshop to salvage Gaza and bring relief to our people here," Al Arabiya quoted Hamdallah as saying.

The cabinet meeting took place at the Gaza residence of president Mahmoud Abbas so that to present a united Palestinian front to the international community, the newspaper stated.

Media records say that the delegation, flanked by dozens of security personnel, arrived in Gaza through Beit Hanoun checkpoint.

According to Al Arabiya, Hamdallah's visit to Gaza could develop hopes of a Palestinian nation.

"We have put years of division behind us and we have begun to consolidate reconciliation as a core step to lobby the international community and its influential powers to bear their responsibility towards rebuilding Gaza, which requires lifting the unjust (Israeli) blockade," Al Arabiya quoted Hamdallah as adding.

The newspaper also stated that Israel may start lifting bans on the goods supply into Gaza after they had been in force for years.

The new Fatah-Hamas reconciliation government was formed between the rival Palestinian movements in June following the breakthrough April deal to create a united government and hold general elections.

Hamas has held power in the Gaza Strip since 2007, while Fatah has been holding sway in the West Bank.

Palestinians seek the creation of an independent state on the territories of the West Bank in East Jerusalem, partially occupied by Israel, and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, and want Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territories it took after the 1967 war.

Russia to continue efforts to deescalate Palestinian-Israeli conflict

MOSCOW, November 13. /TASS/. Russia will continue its efforts to deescalate the situation in Palestinian-Israeli relations, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Thursday.

“The situation is very difficult, no way out of the dead end can be seen,” he said. “Tensions are not subsiding in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially in East Jerusalem. Russia will continue its efforts, both in bilateral and international formats, to deescalate the situation.”

Following an assassination attack on Rabbi Yehuda Glick on October 29, Israel’s government closed the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City to all visitor, the Russian diplomat recalled. “This decision, and non-stop attempts by Israeli far-right activists to reach Temple Mount, where the Al-Aqsa mosque is located, have provoked numerous clashes between the Palestinians and the Israeli security services,” Lukashevich said. “Instances of violence by Palestinian extremists against Israeli citizens have become more frequent as well.”

“We are profoundly concerned over such manifestations of violence,” he noted. “We condemn criminal terrorist actions targeted against civilians. We urge the Israelis and the Palestinians to put an end to provocative actions that only aggravate the already tense atmosphere in the Palestinian-Israeli relations.”

“The situation in the Palestine-Israel direction was discussed in this light during a telephone conference between representatives of the Middle East Quartet of international mediators (the United States, Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations) on November 5,” Lukashevich added.

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