The United States undermines the work of the Middle East Quartet of international negotiators by attempting to monopolize mediation efforts in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict settlement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on October 12.
"For many decades, the UN' decision to establish a Palestinian State has been sabotaged. First of all, by the US, which wants to monopolize, to usurp mediation efforts, and is trying to push aside Russia, the UN and the EU. And thereby disrupting the work of the quartet of international mediators, which includes Russia, the US, the UN and the European Union," Lavrov told reporters after a ministerial meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Bishkek.
On October 7, Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip, prompting Israel to declare a state of war the following day and launch retaliatory strikes.
On October 9, Israel ordered a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to more than 2 million people, cutting off supplies of water, food and fuel. Both Israel and Palestine have reported several thousand deaths and injuries as a result of the escalation. Many countries across the globe have started evacuating their citizens from Israel amid the ongoing escalation of the conflict.
On October 10, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said that Moscow was ready for consultations within the Quartet on the Israel-Palestine conflict, but the United States clearly did not want this.