Palestine calls for urgent meeting of Middle East Quartet foreign ministers

Abdel Hafiz Nofal

MOSCOW, May 15. /TASS/: Palestine calls for an urgent meeting of the Middle East Quartet of international mediators (Russia, the United States, the UN and the EU) at the level of foreign ministers, Palestinian Ambassador to Russia Abdel Hafiz Nofal told TASS on Saturday.

"We believe that Russia’s existing stance is constructive and that it should not only be preserved but should also be developed. It is necessary to convene a meeting of the Middle East Quartet at the level of ministers in Moscow or elsewhere as soon as possible. This is necessary to stop the dangerous course of events," he said.

The exchange of missile attacks between Israel and the Gaza Strip, which has been going on since May 10, was triggered by riots near East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque. Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police officers erupted after an Israeli court had ruled to evict several Palestinian families from the city’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. According to the latest reports, at least 10 people have been killed in Israel, and almost 140 in Palestine, including nearly 40 children.