Russia seeks international mission to monitor Gaza humanitarian crisis

Expressing readiness to render any assistance to alleviate suffering of Gaza’s people, Russia on Sunday said that an international monitoring mission should go to the beleaguered enclave to monitor the humanitarian situation.

It also stressed that steps need to be taken for de-escalation and protecting civilians.

"(President) Vladimir Putin reaffirmed the principle position of rejecting and condemning terrorism in all its forms. At the same time, it is extremely important that countering terrorist threats does not lead to such grave consequences for the civilian population," the Kremlin said in a statement.

The statement came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talked to President Putin and is said to have complained about Russia's position on the issue as well as its relations with Iran.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who is attending the Doha Forum conference in Qatar, told Al Jazeera that Russia had strongly condemned the October 7 terrorist attack but "do not believe it is acceptable to use this event for the collective punishment of the millions of Palestinian people with indiscriminate shelling".

He said that for "humanitarian pauses" in Gaza, "some kind of monitoring on the ground" was needed and Russia had raised this point with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres but to no avail.