Russia welcomes Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire accord

Moscow, Nov 26 (UNI) Russia today welcomed the agreement between Israel and Palestine on ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, calling on both sides to make efforts to fulfill the accord to maintain peace in the region.

''We call on Israel and Palestine to take responsible actions directed at maintaining the fragile ceasefire and not to take their cue from extremists able to hinder the creation of a confident atmosphere between the parties,'' Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Israeli troops conducted an operation in the Gaza Strip over the last few weeks to prevent Palestinian rocket fire on Israel. Dozens of people were killed in the course of the operation.

''According to reports, the heads of Israel and the Palestinian National Administration reached a ceasefire agreement.

Under the agreement, Israel will cease combat operations at 0600 hours on November 26 and pull its forces out of Gaza. At the same time, the Palestinian side will take initiative to prevent rocket attacks on Israel,'' the statement said.

The parties are on the whole abiding by the agreement, ''although the firing of rockets on Israel this morning causes concern and condemnation,'' it pointed out.

''Moscow believes the ceasefire is called upon to be the first step towards normalizing the situation and a prologue for restoring the Palestinian-Israeli peace process in the interests of a comprehensive political settlement and the establishment of a lasting peace between Israel and its Arab neighbours,'' the statement noted.

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