Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned the ongoing bombing campaign waged by Israel against the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, stating it cannot be justified by anything.
The president made the remarks on Monday as he delivered a speech ahead of a closed-doors meeting with members of the Russian Security Council and heads of law enforcement agencies.
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“The horrible events currently unfolding in the Gaza Strip, when hundreds of thousands of innocent people are getting indiscriminately annihilated, have nowhere to run, nowhere to hide from bombardment, cannot be justified by anything,” Putin stated.
Israel’s actions in the Palestinian enclave only invoke rage, Putin argued, adding, however, that one should not be led by “emotions” in properly addressing the situation in the Middle East.
“When you’re watching bloodied children, dead children, suffering of the elderly, death of medics – fists are clenching and tears are welling up. Yet we should not, we cannot allow ourselves to be led by emotions,” the president said.
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The ongoing crisis in the Middle East started with a “terrorist attack” on Israeli civilians, Putin noted. However, instead of “punishing” those behind it, Israel “unfortunately” opted for “vengeance” and assigned “collective responsibility” for it, Putin added.
The major escalation between Hamas and Israel began on October 7 with a surprise attack launched by the Palestinian militant group. Israel responded with massive aerial and artillery bombardment of Gaza, which has already resulted in widespread destruction and heavy civilian casualties in the enclave.
More than 8,000 Palestinians, including over 3,300 children, have been killed, according to local health authorities. In Israel, more than 1,400 have been killed during the conflict, according to the IDF.