Russia welcomed this Friday, July 3, the commitment to " unity " made the day before by the Palestinian enemy movements of Fatah and Hamas against the Israeli plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.
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" We noted with satisfaction the joint press conference yesterday between representatives of Fatah and Hamas during which was announced the will to defend together the interests of the Palestinian government ", commented the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov, during from a meeting with a senior Libyan official in Moscow. According to the senior official, the " restoration of Palestinian unity " is " one of the key questions " for the Israeli-Palestinian settlement.
The minister also called on the international community to work in favor of " restoring direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians under the aegis " of the quartet (Russia, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations) and with the " active participation " of the Arab countries. At a rare joint press conference on Thursday, secular Fatah and Islamist Hamas, respectively in power in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, said they wanted to open " a new page " in favor of " national unity ".
This rapprochement comes as Israel wishes to annex its colonies and the Jordan Valley in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory that the Hebrew state has occupied since 1967. Russia, close to both Israel and the Palestinian camp, has said ready on several occasions to host direct discussions between the two parties.
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