Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during a news conference in Moscow, July 28, 2014 (Photo: Reuters)
Russia said Monday it had called on Israel to agree to a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, in a phone call between the foreign ministers of the two countries.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also told his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman that the foes "should reach an agreement that excludes the return to violence in which mostly innocent civilians suffer".
The Russian foreign ministry statement did not mention whether Lavrov had brought up the Palestinian casualties suffered during three attacks on UN-operated schools and refugee centres in Gaza that the militants and most Western leaders blame on Israeli troops.
Moscow supported the Palestinian cause in the Soviet era but established warmer ties with Israel in the past two decades.
But its influence in the region has dropped off substantially and Moscow no longer plays an important mediating role between the two sides.
Since the beginning of the Israeli strikes against Gaza, over 1,820 Palestinians have been killed with more than 10,000 injured. On the Israeli side, 64 soldiers have been killed in clashes and shellings in and around the war-torn enclave.
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