MOSCOW, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Moscow hopes that the cease-fire achieved between the Israelis and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip will last, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.
"We expect it to be sustainable and long-term, and to enable the international community to step up work aimed at rectifying the dismal humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and achieve a just Palestinian-Israeli settlement on a well-known international legal basis," it said in a statement.
Over 450 missiles have been launched from the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian enclave on the Mediterranean coast, to Israel in the last few days, while Israel struck more than 160 targets in the territory in response to the attacks.
According to media reports, eight Palestinians were killed and 35 injured as a result of an exchange of fire in the past few days while one person was killed and 56 injured from the Israeli side, the ministry statement said.
The Israeli government and Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic group governing the Gaza Strip, and other militant groups agreed on Tuesday to stop hostilities.
On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman tendered his resignation protesting against the government decision to halt the airstrikes.
The Russian ministry severely condemned the attacks in the statement "actions leading to civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian objects in the Gaza Strip and in Israel" and welcomed the meditation of Egypt and UN to restore the cease-fire.
"We hope that the largest-scale armed confrontation between the Israelis and the Palestinians since 2014 will be stopped," the statement said.
