Russia Condemns Israel Over Planned Invasion

By Worthy News’ George Whitten and Stefan J. Bos

MOSCOW/BUDAPEST/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose forces invaded neighboring Ukraine, condemned Israel on Friday for planning the same actions in Gaza.

Unlike Russia, Israel was attacked first by Hamas militants, killing more than 1,300 people, including men, women, and children. However, Putin said Friday that a retaliatory Israeli ground offensive in Gaza would result in a level of civilian casualties that would be “absolutely unacceptable.”

He told reporters at a summit in Kyrgyzstan: “More than 2 million people live there. Far from all of them support Hamas, by the way, far from all. But all of them have to suffer, including women and children. Of course, it’s hard for anyone to agree with this.”

Putin spoke after Israel’s military called for all civilians of Gaza City and northern Gaza, some 1.1 million people, to relocate to the south within 24 hours, as it amassed tanks ahead of an expected ground invasion in response to the devastating weekend attack.

Angering Israeli commentators, Putin said there had been calls even in the United States for a blockade of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on a par with “the siege of Leningrad during World War II. In my view, it is unacceptable.”

The Jerusalem Post newspaper complained that his criticism of Israel “was made all the more stinging by the reference to the 1941-44 siege of Leningrad and the implied comparison between Israel and Hitler’s Germany, with potential for causing deep offense in Israel.”

RUSSIA-ISRAEL TALKS

Amid mounting tensions, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin met Israeli ambassador to Moscow Alexander Ben Zvi on Friday and discussed the current situation around the Israel-Palestinian conflict, the Russian foreign ministry said.

“In this regard, the current activities of the U.N. Security Council and its possible actions and moves were substantively reviewed, focusing on the urgent need to ensure the protection of civilians in both Israel and Palestine, to prevent catastrophic humanitarian consequences and the spread of the crisis to other countries in the region,” the ministry added.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the Russian side, at the meeting with the ambassador, “stressed the need for an immediate ceasefire and the smooth operation of negotiating procedures between Palestinians and Israelis based on U.N. resolutions…”

Asked if the government planned to evacuate people from Gaza, Zakharova said it was “critically important to solve without delay all issues linked to setting up a security corridor” for citizens of Russia and other ex-Soviet states.

After the break-up of the Moscow-led Soviet Union, more than a million Jews left Israel from former Soviet republics.

That initially led to improved relations between Israel and Russia, but more recently, Moscow established closer ties with the Jewish nation’s sworn enemies, including Iran and Syria. Iran has delivered drones to Russia for its war against Ukraine, while Moscow provides military support to Syria’s leadership.

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