Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his “dissatisfaction” to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday after Russia’s vote at the UN Security Council in favor of a ceasefire between Palestinian Hamas and Israel in Gaza.
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“The prime minister expressed his dissatisfaction with the positions against Israel adopted by Russian delegates at the UN and other forums,” said a statement from Mr. Netanyahu’s office, following a telephone interview. between the two leaders.
Russia passed a Security Council resolution on Friday calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza, but the United States vetoed it, which Israel welcomed.
Since the start of the deadly war between Hamas and Israel on October 7 in the Gaza Strip, Mr. Putin has been critical of Israel, denouncing the humanitarian “catastrophe” and calling for the creation of a Palestinian state.
Russia maintains cordial relations with Hamas and does not consider the group a “terrorist” organization, unlike Israel, the United States and the European Union.
AFP
Mr. Netanyahu also criticized “the dangerous cooperation between Russia and Iran”, a key supporter of Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, after President Ebrahim Raïssi’s visit to Moscow on Thursday.
“Our relations are developing very well,” Mr. Putin welcomed at the start of their interview, while regional tensions raise the specter of a widening of the conflict.
Iran, a key backer of Hamas, has warned of “the possibility” of an “uncontrollable explosion” in the Middle East, while Yemen’s Houthi rebels, backed by Tehran, have threatened to attack any ship in the Red Sea heading towards Israel if the people of the Gaza Strip do not receive the aid they need.
The head of Israel’s National Security Council, Tzachi Hanegbi, said Saturday that “if the world does not deal with this, because it is an international problem, we will act to put a end to this naval siege.
On the northern front, Israel is on alert against the Lebanese Hezbollah movement with which there have been almost daily exchanges of fire since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.
AFP
The Israeli Prime Minister nevertheless welcomed the “Russian efforts to free a Russian-Israeli hostage” among the 240 people kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, and asked his interlocutor “to put pressure on the Red Cross to facilitate visits and medicine” to some 137 hostages remaining held in Gaza, according to the statement.