Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is currently visiting Moscow from August 12 to 14, 2024, to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The visit aimed to discuss the peace process for the Israel-Hamas war and strengthen bilateral relations between the two nations.
This meeting is part of the ongoing efforts to resolve the conflict in the region, with Russia playing a significant role in facilitating dialogue between the parties involved.
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Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that Moscow was pained by the plight of his people and backed their aspiration to create a fully-fledged state.
We reported earlier that Putin held talks with his Palestinian counterpart, who is in Russia for a visit.
“We are watching with great pain and anxiety the humanitarian catastrophe that has unfolded in Palestine,” Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript.
Russian federation support two-state solution because it is the only another to the current crisis.
Veteran leader Abbas, 88, said Russia was “one of the dearest friends” of the Palestinian people. “We believe in you, we trust you and we feel your support,” he told Putin.
He said the United Nations Security Council, where Russia is one of five veto-holding powers – must act to “stop the actions that Israel is taking”, after judges at the top UN court said in an advisory ruling last month that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and maintenance of Israeli settlements there are illegal.
In the same vein, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is set to meet for an emergency open session called by Algeria over Israel’s August 10 attack on the al-Tabin School in Gaza City.
The attack on the school-turned-shelter killed more than 100 Palestinians who were among the hundreds displaced there.
The UN’s chief condemned the attack, saying it was “yet another devastating strike by Israel” that took place “amidst continued horror, displacement, and suffering in Gaza”.
The meeting to discuss the latest attacks in the besieged enclave comes as efforts continue by key mediating partners including Qatar, Egypt, and the US to secure a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
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In another news, UN has also denounced the move by Ben-Gvir to lead prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
“We are against any efforts to change the status quo within the holy sites,” said deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq.
“Al-Aqsa Mosque, like the other holy sites in Jerusalem, should be left to themselves and should be controlled by the existing religious authorities for the sites. This sort of behaviour is unhelpful and it is unduly provocative.”