Russia says Israel turned Gaza Strip into 'a prison under open sky'

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - The Russian Foreign Ministry slammed Israel's actions against Palestine on Friday, saying Tel Aviv turned Gaza into "a prison under open sky."

Commenting on remarks by the Israeli foreign minister about the vote on the suspension of Russia's membership on the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), which Israel supported, the ministry said Israel uses the situation around Ukraine to distract attention from the Palestine problem.

"As well-known, in violation of numerous decisions of the (UN) Security Council and the UN General Assembly, the Israeli government continues illegal occupation and ‘creeping annexation’ of the Palestinian territories, as a result of which over 2.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank of the Jordan River live in isolated enclaves cut off from the outside world.

"The Gaza Strip has essentially become an ‘open-air prison,’ whose two million people have been forced to survive for almost 14 years under the conditions of the Israeli sea, air and land blockade," it said.

The ministry noted that Israel's course on maintaining the longest-lasting occupation after World War II is being implemented with the tacit consent of leading Western countries and open US support.