Russia urges Israel and Palestine to show restraint

The Russian Foreign Ministry is concerned about the latest outbreak of
violence between Palestinian militants and Israel, RIA-Novosti reports.
“We call on all sides to show restraint and to do everything possible to
restore calm and ensure proper conditions for resuming Palestinian-Israeli
negotiations based on widely accepted international legal grounds,” the
ministry said in a statement published on its website on Sunday.
At least 16 Palestinians, including leaders and activists of the Popular
Resistance Committees (PRC), a coalition of militant groups operating in
the Gaza Strip, and militants from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement,
were killed as a result of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since Friday. Some 20
Palestinians and several Israelis have been injured as the sides traded
rocket fire over the weekend.
The violence began on Friday when Israeli airstrikes destroyed a car in the
city of Gaza. As a result of the airstrike two militant leaders were
killed. One of the victims was accused by Israel of plotting a cross-border
attack from Egypt.
Israeli-Palestinian tensions escalated as the Quartet of international
mediators of the Arab-Israeli conflict is scheduled to meet in New York on
Monday for the first time since September 2011 to discuss ways of finding a
resolution to the long-lasting crisis.