The US does not want to restrain Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview to RT on Wednesday. Russia has proposed several UN Security Council resolutions seeking a ceasefire to the all out conflict that erupted between the Israeli military and Hamas on October.
When asked to comment on why he believed the US vetoed the resolutions, Lavrov suggested that Washington “is highly ideologized.” He said: “Anything coming from Russia is taken as a hostile act… But on substance, and on practical terms Washington does not want to tie Israel’s hands.”
After Israel had killed 7,028 Palestinians were killed, including 2,913 children, after just three weeks of fighting, Washington still insisted it was not trying to dictate limits to Tel Avis in its execution of the war. At the same time, the US continued to accelerate badly needed military aid to Israel. “We’re not drawing red lines for Israel,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said at the time.
Last week, as the death toll had reached over 10,000 Palestinians, Axios reported that under pressure from Washington, Israel agreed to begin “tactical, localized humanitarian pauses” but the US made it clear that the request was not intended to force the Israelis into a ceasefire.
During his interview with RT, Lavrov explained as well that Moscow does not believe that Hamas allies Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon want the war in Gaza to escalate into a broader regional conflict.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has threatened to bomb Lebanese capital Beirut in a similar way to their campaign in Gaza, while some US hawks have called for an attack on Iran.
Moscow, however, believes there is “no appetite” for a major conflict in Lebanon or Iran, Lavrov stated, adding that neither country wants “any involvement in this crisis.” Lavrov claimed that recent televised remarks by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah show that it has “no appetite for a big war.”
Lavrov also argued that the Western allies “wanted and still want to ‘Ukrainize’ each and every agenda of each and every international forum.” But, he explained–
“This was never going to fly… The countries of the global majority, of the Global South, don’t want to allow the West to continue to decide each and every issue on the planet on its own, in its own interests.”
‘Expelling Palestinians from Gaza would ruin UN resolutions’ – Lavrov pic.twitter.com/YFFKIjdhCK— RT (@RT_com) November 15, 2023
Meanwhile, Hezbollah has exchange fire with Israel on the southern border since Oct. 8, losing some 60 fighters and inflicting damage on Israeli military bases and settlements. However, Hezbollah has not used its vast rocket and missile stocks, thought to number over 130,000, to launch a full scale war against Israel.
