06:58Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Moscow endorsed the deal reached between Israel and Hamas to declare a four-day pause in hostilities in the Gaza Strip, while speaking at a briefing in Moscow on Wednesday.
"As part of the potential deal, a four-day humanitarian pause should be declared in the territory of the Palestinian enclave and hostilities should be suspended. We hope that the above agreement will be strictly observed by all parties, contribute to the further development of relevant contacts in order to resolve acute humanitarian issues and become an important step towards the overall de-escalation of the situation," Zakharova said.
"In turn, we intend to contribute in every possible way, in close co-ordination with regional partners. We will continue to encourage all parties involved to seek the necessary compromises in favour of an early exit from the crisis situation and a comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on a known international legal basis. We welcome the agreements reached," she continued.
According to the diplomat, Russia had also 'recorded signals from Ankara' to initiate an inspection to 'verify the possession of nuclear weapons by Israel', but didn’t receive 'any official proposals or other requests in this regard'.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that nuclear weapons, 'the existence of which was admitted by Israeli ministers', should be investigated. Israel has not commented.
On Wednesday, Hamas and Israel reached a deal on a four-day ceasefire and an exchange of hostages held by the militant group for Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
According to the Israeli government office, during 'the first stage' of the deal 'at least 50 hostages - women and children - will be released over four days, during which a pause in the fighting will be held'.
The Hamas press service added that 150 Palestinian women and children under the age of 19, currently imprisoned in Israel, should be released. It added that 'hundreds of trucks' of humanitarian cargo would be allowed to all Gaza areas 'without exception', although this was not confirmed by Israel.
Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping over 200, according to Israeli officials.
Israel declared war on the group and a 'complete siege' of Gaza, with a large-scale campaign of air strikes. A ground incursion began at the end of the third week, with Israeli leaders vowing to 'wipe out' Hamas. Palestinian officials reported that over 14,000 people, including more than 8,000 children, had been killed and more than 33,000 injured, at time of publication.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) claimed that Hamas locations and infrastructure were targeted in the response. However, United Nations experts warned against 'collective punishment' for the people of Gaza, before predicting a 'humanitarian crisis' and then claimed that 'hell is settling in' for the region.
'We welcome the agreements reached' - Zakharova on four-day pause, hostage deal between Israel and Hamas
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Moscow endorsed the deal reached between Israel and Hamas to declare a four-day pause in hostilities in the Gaza Strip, while speaking at a briefing in Moscow on Wednesday.
"As part of the potential deal, a four-day humanitarian pause should be declared in the territory of the Palestinian enclave and hostilities should be suspended. We hope that the above agreement will be strictly observed by all parties, contribute to the further development of relevant contacts in order to resolve acute humanitarian issues and become an important step towards the overall de-escalation of the situation," Zakharova said.
"In turn, we intend to contribute in every possible way, in close co-ordination with regional partners. We will continue to encourage all parties involved to seek the necessary compromises in favour of an early exit from the crisis situation and a comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on a known international legal basis. We welcome the agreements reached," she continued.
According to the diplomat, Russia had also 'recorded signals from Ankara' to initiate an inspection to 'verify the possession of nuclear weapons by Israel', but didn’t receive 'any official proposals or other requests in this regard'.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that nuclear weapons, 'the existence of which was admitted by Israeli ministers', should be investigated. Israel has not commented.
On Wednesday, Hamas and Israel reached a deal on a four-day ceasefire and an exchange of hostages held by the militant group for Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
According to the Israeli government office, during 'the first stage' of the deal 'at least 50 hostages - women and children - will be released over four days, during which a pause in the fighting will be held'.
The Hamas press service added that 150 Palestinian women and children under the age of 19, currently imprisoned in Israel, should be released. It added that 'hundreds of trucks' of humanitarian cargo would be allowed to all Gaza areas 'without exception', although this was not confirmed by Israel.
Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping over 200, according to Israeli officials.
Israel declared war on the group and a 'complete siege' of Gaza, with a large-scale campaign of air strikes. A ground incursion began at the end of the third week, with Israeli leaders vowing to 'wipe out' Hamas. Palestinian officials reported that over 14,000 people, including more than 8,000 children, had been killed and more than 33,000 injured, at time of publication.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) claimed that Hamas locations and infrastructure were targeted in the response. However, United Nations experts warned against 'collective punishment' for the people of Gaza, before predicting a 'humanitarian crisis' and then claimed that 'hell is settling in' for the region.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Moscow endorsed the deal reached between Israel and Hamas to declare a four-day pause in hostilities in the Gaza Strip, while speaking at a briefing in Moscow on Wednesday.
"As part of the potential deal, a four-day humanitarian pause should be declared in the territory of the Palestinian enclave and hostilities should be suspended. We hope that the above agreement will be strictly observed by all parties, contribute to the further development of relevant contacts in order to resolve acute humanitarian issues and become an important step towards the overall de-escalation of the situation," Zakharova said.
"In turn, we intend to contribute in every possible way, in close co-ordination with regional partners. We will continue to encourage all parties involved to seek the necessary compromises in favour of an early exit from the crisis situation and a comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on a known international legal basis. We welcome the agreements reached," she continued.
According to the diplomat, Russia had also 'recorded signals from Ankara' to initiate an inspection to 'verify the possession of nuclear weapons by Israel', but didn’t receive 'any official proposals or other requests in this regard'.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that nuclear weapons, 'the existence of which was admitted by Israeli ministers', should be investigated. Israel has not commented.
On Wednesday, Hamas and Israel reached a deal on a four-day ceasefire and an exchange of hostages held by the militant group for Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
According to the Israeli government office, during 'the first stage' of the deal 'at least 50 hostages - women and children - will be released over four days, during which a pause in the fighting will be held'.
The Hamas press service added that 150 Palestinian women and children under the age of 19, currently imprisoned in Israel, should be released. It added that 'hundreds of trucks' of humanitarian cargo would be allowed to all Gaza areas 'without exception', although this was not confirmed by Israel.
Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping over 200, according to Israeli officials.
Israel declared war on the group and a 'complete siege' of Gaza, with a large-scale campaign of air strikes. A ground incursion began at the end of the third week, with Israeli leaders vowing to 'wipe out' Hamas. Palestinian officials reported that over 14,000 people, including more than 8,000 children, had been killed and more than 33,000 injured, at time of publication.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) claimed that Hamas locations and infrastructure were targeted in the response. However, United Nations experts warned against 'collective punishment' for the people of Gaza, before predicting a 'humanitarian crisis' and then claimed that 'hell is settling in' for the region.