Putin calls for Gaza conflict to stop

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday urged Israelis and
Palestinians to prevent an escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip,
RIA-Novosti reports.

“The Russian president has called on the opposing sides of the conflict to
avoid an escalation of violence, which claims the lives of innocent
civilians, and do everything possible to restore peace in the region,”
RIA-Novosti quotes the Kremlin's statement following a phone conversation

between Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel launched Operation Pillar of Defense on Wednesday, killing
Hamas' military chief Ahmed al-Jabari and attacking hundreds of
rocket-launching sites, ammunition depots and “terrorist” cells that
belong to radical Islamist groups operating in Gaza, primarily Hamas
and Islamic Jihad.