Russia questions US role in Palestinian-Israeli conflict escalation

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Tuesday doubted the US role in current Palestinian-Israeli tensions, questioning Washington's suspension of armed supplies to Ukraine and a lack of intelligence sharing with Tel Aviv on the Palestinian group Hamas's preparations for an "operation in Israel."

Responding to a question from Anadolu's correspondent at a news conference in Moscow, Zakharova said some of Washington's actions raise questions, including the suspension of military aid to Ukraine less than a month before tensions erupted, the lack of warning to Israel about Hamas preparations for armed action in Israel, and the suspension of the Middle East Quartet (Russia, EU, US, and UN), formed to find a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

"How during the whole year, during which the operation in the Middle East was being prepared, the United States of America, taking into account the capabilities of its intelligence community and the intelligence infrastructure in the region, did not say anything to its closest ally, Israel?" she asked.

Zakharova added that Washington had cut off supplies to Kyiv less than a month before the events in the Middle East.

"The reason was the approval of the US budget, but what an interesting coincidence. I think it's worthwhile to think about it first and to ask all of these questions to the White House. And then to talk about the future," she said, hinting at a possible shift of US military and financial help for Ukraine to Israel.

Concerning the suspension of the Middle East Quartet's work to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Zakharova said the US "unilaterally blocked the work of the quartet."

"The pretext was far-fetched, the beginning of a special military operation. But now the situation is also developing in line with the mentality of those who have not seen a political and diplomatic solution in the region," she said.

The spokeswoman emphasized that Washington's attitude toward international legal documents demonstrates that they are meaningless to the US.

"I would like to ask ... when they voted for the relevant resolutions or participated in the work on them, did they already know in advance that they would not implement them and that this all was an absolutely unnecessary thing?" she questioned.