Russia insists on 'urgent' implementation of UN Security Council resolution on cease-fire in Gaza

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia on Wednesday insisted on "urgent" implementation of a last month’s UN resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.

Taking a question from Anadolu at a news conference in Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said UN Security Council resolutions are binding on all UN countries, including Resolution 2728, passed on March 25, demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.

"Russia continues to insist on the imperative for urgent implementation of the aforementioned decision of the Security Council," she stressed.

Zakharova criticized how US representatives on the UN Security Council call "non-binding" some of the resolution's provisions, saying this suggests that the US and "the collective West … will dictate to others what to do, and they themselves will choose what to do or not to do."

"On the other hand, we see that some countries have completely forgotten what diplomatic immunity is, what consular immunity is in relation to employees of foreign institutions, in relation to diplomatic missions," she said, evidently referring to recent Israeli airstrikes on Iran’s diplomatic mission in Damascus, Syria, which left at least 13 people killed.

Zakharova warned that violations of UN Security Council resolutions may entail tougher measures, including by international judicial bodies.

"I would like to remind you that gross systematic violation of council resolutions, as well as the norms of international humanitarian law, may become the basis for more decisive measures, both by the Security Council and international judicial authorities. We will keep an eye on developments," she said.

Israel has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians since an Oct. 7 cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas which claimed some 1,200 lives.

Much of Gaza's infrastructure has since been destroyed and 1.9 million residents forcibly displaced, leaving them at risk of disease and famine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.