Russia in contact with Israel, sending signals about peaceful resolution in Gaza – Lavrov

Moscow, Oct 28 Russia maintains contacts with Israel and is sending signals about the need for a peaceful resolution in the Gaza Strip, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, adding that a “scorched-earth strategy” should not be pursued.
“We are sending signals to the Israelis, we maintain contacts with them in full, our ambassador regularly communicates with them, we are sending signals about the necessity to seek a peaceful solution, and not to complete the announced scorched-earth strategy in Gaza,” Lavrov told Belarusian state news agency Belta in an interview out Saturday.
The top Russian diplomat also said that it is impossible to eliminate Palestinian group Hamas without destroying the Gaza Strip with most of its civilian population, while stressing the importance of launching humanitarian programs in Gaza to rescue the population in need of water, food and electricity.
At the same time, Moscow is interested in ensuring that the Central Asian region is not used as a “springboard” for threats to Russia and China, as it happened with Ukraine, Lavrov added.