In an interview with Sputnik, the chairman of the defence committee of the Senate of Pakistan, Mushahid Hussain Sayed, thanked Russia for its "strong and principled" position on the situation in the Gaza Strip as the Israeli ground offensive continues.

"On the issue of Gaza, I would like to thank Russia for its strong and principled position. In Gaza, there is genocide caused by crimes against humanity by Israel. The people of Palestine are suffering because of it. I would also like to condemn the Western countries, especially the United States, which are complicit in Israel's crimes against humanity. They are partners in crime," Sayed said.

The only possible solution, he added, is to hold the United States and Israel "accountable for their crimes, ending the military operations, and establishing an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

On October 7, 2023, the Palestinian movement Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack against Israel from Gaza and breached the border, killing 1,200 people and abducting around 240 others.

Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza, and started a ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. At least 29,000 people have been killed so far in the Gaza Strip, local authorities said.

On November 24, Qatar mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas on a temporary truce and the exchange of some of the prisoners and hostages, as well as the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire was extended several times and expired on December 1. More than 100 hostages are still believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza.

Russia has repeatedly called on both parties to stop hostilities, stating that the two-state solution approved by the UN Security Council, which provides for the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem, is the only way to end the conflict.

The UN General Assembly voted in 1947 to divide UK-governed Palestine into Arab and Jewish states, with Jerusalem placed under a special international regime.

The partitioning was planned to take place in May 1948, when the British mandate was due to end, but only the state of Israel was established.

(With UNI inputs)