Peace talks between Palestinians, Israelis not yet possible due to US, Israel stance: Ambassador

ISTANBUL

Peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis are not yet possible due to the stance of the US and Israel, Palestine’s ambassador to Russia said on Monday.

“Because Israel doesn’t want to. They say they want to eliminate Hamas in the Gaza Strip. They are still attacking, more than 10,000 dead, about 35,000 wounded, and about 100,000 houses destroyed. This is a big disaster,” Abdel Hafiz Nofal told Russian state news agency Tass in an interview.

Nofal said that “Israel continues this war, including against civilians,” despite the devastating impact of the conflict. “And the worst thing is that the Americans support them on this issue,” he added.

The ambassador also touched on the meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday, saying that the talks did not result in any positive steps.

“Yesterday there was a meeting with Blinken in Ramallah, where Abbas said that there is an urgent need to stop the war so that civilians can live normally. So far, Israel is refusing everything, (but) attacking the Gaza Strip. The US needs to do something to stop all this, but the Americans are still not doing anything,” Nofal said.

He added that Palestine called on the international community to convene a major conference to establish peace in the region.

“A conference is needed to not only stop the war, but also to establish peace in this land. Unfortunately, Israel and the US still refuse to do this,” he said.

Israel has launched air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7.

More than 11,600 people have been killed in the conflict, including at least 10,022 Palestinians – mostly children and women – and nearly 1,600 Israelis.

Besides the large number of casualties and massive displacements, basic supplies are running low for Gaza’s 2.3 million residents due to the Israeli siege.