Hanneya, Russia call for end to Gaza Blockade

Palestinian Ministry for the Interior in Gaza reports that Palestinian premier in Gaza Ismail Haneyya has asked Russia to intervene to lift the siege on Gaza Strip and to end its power crisis.

Haneyya asked for Moscow’s intervention in a telephone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday night.

Hanneya told Lavrov that Gaza has been reeling under a tight blockade since 2006, and its power crisis had been plaguing the population for the past few weeks, plunging the Strip even closer to a humanitarian crisis. They also discussed overcoming differences between Hamas and Fateh.

Moscow's Foreign Ministry promptly released a Press Statement on Wednesday calling for a “speedy” end to the blockade of Gaza.

“[Lavrov] called for the speedy removal of the blockade of the Gaza Strip to improve the humanitarian plight of Palestinian civilians,” the government’s Voice of Russia website quoted Moscow’s Foreign Ministry as saying in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement added: “Lavrov reiterated Russia’s principled position based on U.N. decisions in support of legitimate hopes of Palestinians for the creation of an independent and territorial integral state co-existing in peace and harmony with its neighbours.”

The 35-minute phone call was the first high-level conversation between the two territories in months.

ENDS

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