UPDATE: Russia Sends Envoy To Seek Gaza Ceasefire: Ministry
Sunday January 4th, 2009 / 13h14
(Adds comments, background.)
MOSCOW (AFP)--Russia Sunday said it was "extremely concerned" by Israel's ground thrust into Gaza, and dispatched its Middle East envoy to the region to help bring about a ceasefire by both sides.
"The new dangerous escalation in the armed conflict after the start of the Israeli land operation in Gaza is a matter of extreme concern," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"It is essential, without delay, to put an end to the suffering of the civilian population on both sides, to stop the bloodshed and secure a mutual ceasefire," it said, adding that President Dmitry Medvedev's Middle East envoy, Alexander Saltanov, was going to the region.
"Among the measures urgently needed for the prevention of a large-scale humanitarian catastrophe in the sector is the lifting of the blockade and opening of checkpoints," the ministry said, referring to Israel's blockade of Gaza.
"Russia continues to seek this in contact with all interested parties," both in the United Nations Security Council and the diplomatic Quartet for Middle East peace," the statement said.
Russia is a member of the diplomatic Quartet along with the E.U., U.N. and the U.S., as well as being a permanent U.N. Security Council member.
Russia has been seeking to host a Middle East conference but the idea has so far failed to gain sufficient traction with Israel or the U.S. to go ahead.
Thousands of Israeli troops and scores of tanks pushed deep into Gaza Sunday, battling Hamas fighters and moving towards the enclave's capital on a mission to end militant rocket attacks.
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