Nayrouz News Agency : The Joint Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held a meeting Tuesday in Moscow on the Israeli war on Gaza and ceasefire efforts.
Lavrov praised the Committee assigned by the Arab-Islamic Summit to achieve a long-standing ceasefire in embattled Gaza.
He said Russia supports immediate ceasefire according to the UN and Security Council resolutions and with the decisions of the peace summit in Cairo and the extraordinary joint Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh.
Lavrov condemned Israel's "collective punishment" against Palestinians in besieged Gaza, accusing Israel of committing "blatant violations" of international humanitarian law.
He urged introducing more humanitarian aid to the embattled coastal enclave to avoid an "unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe."
The Russian Foreign Minister expressed his country's support for creating conditions to start peace efforts between Palestinians and Israelis based on the two-state solution.
The Ministerial Committee noted the "importance" of members of the Security Council and the international community to take "effective and urgent" action to realise an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, adding that a truce is a priority for all Arab and Islamic countries.
Ministerial Committee members discussed lifting the Israeli siege on Gaza, releasing prisoners and starting a serious and just peace process that enjoys the support of international legitimacy authorities.
They urged the international community to reject what they described as "selectivity" in applying international legal and moral standards and "turning a blind eye to the heinous" Israeli crimes against Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
They said, "The Israeli authorities' violation of international law and non-compliance with international legitimacy resolutions weaken the legitimacy of the international system, the credibility of its defenders and its ability to maintain peace, security, and regional stability in the future. This fuels the motives of extremism and violence."
They demanded allowing the delivery of humanitarian aid, food, water, fuel and electricity to Gaza, noting that depriving the people of Gaza of the basic requirements of life is a "clear violation of international humanitarian law, especially the Fourth Geneva Convention."
Members of the Ministerial Committee comprised foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Palestine and the secretary of the organisation of Islamic cooperation.